WATERVILLE — No one was injured Monday in a crash on College Avenue in which a convertible struck by another vehicle hopped a curb, knocked down a fire hydrant and landed on the second step of R.E. Drapeau Inc., a longtime Waterville business.

The crash occurred when a 1989 mail truck driven by Kimberly Paine, 48, of Skowhegan, was trying to creep out of Getchell Street to turn left onto College Avenue to head to the U.S. Post Office. Because of an obstructed view, the truck struck a 2013 Mustang convertible being driven south on College Avenue by Alexia Dumont, 18, of Albion, according to Waterville police Officer Dan Goss.

“As it was edging out, it went a little bit too far and hit the Mustang right in the center of the car,” Goss said at the scene. “She (Dumont) lost control, and the Mustang came up over the hydrant and onto the steps of the building.”

The Mustang just missed striking a post and the building itself, which is across the avenue from the former American Legion post, Goss said, but there was no damage to the building.

Just after the crash, Dumont was sitting in the driver’s seat of the shiny, black convertible, its front grill torn off, the bumper smashed and the driver’s side rocker panel on the ground. The passenger side door was dented and scraped. The fire hydrant lay on the ground. Waterville police and fire officials were tending to Dumont. Delta Ambulance arrived, but no one was taken to a hospital.

Police blocked Getchell Street, which connects Main Street to College Avenue, off to traffic at both ends. Kennebec Water District employees arrived to turn off the water main and install another fire hydrant. Carroll’s Auto Body & Wrecker Service, of Winslow, arrived with a wrecker to remove the Mustang. Paine drove the mail truck away.

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Dan Poulin, owner of R.E. Drapeau, came outside of his building to photograph the goings-on. He said workers inside the business, which sells appliances, mattresses and other items, heard a thump and knew something had happened outside.

“We heard a bang and a bang, so we came out to see what it was,” Poulin said. “We called rescue to say somebody needed help.”

Poulin said that years ago a vehicle struck the building and actually broke a window.

“The car went right inside,” he said. “It was a little old lady.”

The speed limit on College Avenue in that area is 25 mph. Goss said the Mustang had just left nearby Burger King, indicating it was not traveling fast at the time of the crash.


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