WATERVILLE — A Waterville bicyclist was injured Wednesday when he rode into traffic from Elm Plaza onto Main Street wearing headphones and slammed into the side of a pickup truck, according to police.

The bicyclist, Arthur Ellis, 57, failed to yield the right of way when he drove the bicycle into traffic, police Sgt. Dan Goss said at the scene.

Arthur Ellis wears bandages on his arm and his head after he rode his bicycle into traffic from Elm Plaza onto Main Street in Waterville and slammed into the side of a pickup truck. Staff photo by David Leaming

The accident was reported at 12:21 p.m. near the southernmost entrance to Elm Plaza, across Main Street from Liberty Tax. Police, firefighters and Delta Ambulance workers rushed to the scene where Ellis lay in the road. Emergency workers wrapped his head with bandages, placed his arm in a sling, loaded him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance and took him to MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer Center for Health on North Street. He was listed in fair condition Wednesday afternoon, a MaineGeneral spokeswoman said.

Ellis is a familiar figure around Waterville, where he is often seen riding his bicycle, wearing headphones and singing loudly.

“It’s going to be coded as failure to yield right of way,” Goss said. “There are no crosswalks and he was riding the bike across the street, which is not good practice.”

Goss said police have told Ellis in the past he should not wear headphones while riding the bicycle.

The 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck involved in the crash was being driven south on Main Street by Paul Harris, 22, of Skowhegan, Goss said. Harris and his passenger, Jacob Rowe, 18, of Clinton, were not injured but said they were shaken by the crash.

“The man was riding out from Elm Plaza as we were driving,” Rowe said at the scene. “He wasn’t paying attention. He had headphones on. He didn’t see us. He just came right out, listening to music, and slammed into the passenger side.”

Harris said Ellis hit the truck and went up into the air before landing in the road.

“Pretty hairy situation when some guy goes airborne off the side of my truck,” he said. “It was loud enough I heard it over my music. He hit pretty hard.”

Rowe immediately dialed 911 and handed the phone to Harris, who told a dispatcher what had happened, they said. Harris and Rowe got out of the truck after the crash and checked to see if Ellis was OK.

“He was conscious,” Harris said. “He was moving around and moaning.”

Goss confirmed their report. “Arthur wasn’t even looking at the truck, according to the driver,” he said. “He just started across the road with his headphones on.”

Traffic was heavy on Main Street during the noon rush hour. Police blocked one lane of southbound traffic for a short time while emergency crews attended to Ellis.

Goss said the bicycle’s impact caused a dent in the truck’s passenger side.

“The bike, the best I could tell, has a bent front rim and the handlebars are twisted,” he said.

Police Officer Cameron Huggins investigated the crash.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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