Five people were taken to area hospitals Sunday afternoon following a chain-reaction, multi-vehicle accident in Newport, police said.
Newport Police Chief Leonard Macdaid said the crash happened at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday on Route 7, also called Moosehead Trail, at the intersection of County Woods Road and Blaisdell Road.
Macdaid said it apparently all started when Ashley Clay, 28, of Dexter, driving northbound on Route 7 with two children on board, rear-ended and sideswiped another car that was stopped in traffic waiting to make a left turn onto Blaisdell Road. Clay’s 1998 Toyota smacked into the 2002 Saturn four-door sedan driven by Danny Lowe, 44, of Lincoln.
Clay’s vehicle then crossed the center line of the road and struck a snowmobile trailer being towed by Samuel Smith, 39, of Leeds, before hitting a 2007 Chevrolet pickup truck being driven by Andrew Leavitt, 38, of Greene, nearly head-on.
Clay and her two children, ages 7 and 9, were taken to Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield.
Lt. Randy Wing, of the Newport Police Department, who investigated the crash, said the children were treated for soft tissue injuries and released from the hospital. Clay was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where she was admitted and was to undergo surgery for a broken or dislocated hip.
Leavitt, the driver of the pickup truck, and his passenger, Brent Buckley, 39, of Leeds, were taken directly to EMMC. Buckley was treated for bruised ribs and knees and was released. Leavitt was admitted to the hospital and was being readied for surgery for a possible broken leg and broken ankle, and his opposite ankle was dislocated, Wing said.
Three of the vehicles involved and the trailer that was being towed by the fourth vehicle are considered to be total losses, Wing said.
“It was a major crash scene,” Wing said, with vehicles scattered across the roadside and in a ditch.
Wing said he didn’t think drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash. The accident is being investigated, and Wing said he could not say if charges are to be brought.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.