WATERVILLE — Three people, including a Waterville police officer, are recovering from injuries they sustained in a four-vehicle crash that occurred Monday at the intersection of Kennedy Memorial Drive and Cool Street.
All three were taken to the hospital following the crash, reported at 4:01 p.m., according to Randy Wing, deputy chief of the Winslow Police Department. Winslow police responded to the crash and investigated the circumstances, which is protocol because a Waterville officer was involved.
Waterville police officer Jake Whitley holds a flashlight Oct. 16, 2021, while responding to a nighttime incident. He sustained a cut to his head Monday after his cruiser was involved a four-vehicle crash on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville. Morning Sentinel file photo
Waterville police Officer Jake Whitley received a severe cut to the head in the crash and his cruiser was destroyed, according to Wing. Waterville police Chief William Bonney said Tuesday he had spoken with Whitley earlier in the day and he is OK, and will be out of work for an unspecified amount of time.
The crash occurred Monday when Whitley was driving a 2021 Ford Explorer SUV west on Kennedy Memorial Drive, with lights and sirens activated. At the same time, a 2016 Honda CRV driven by Jennifer Young, 47, of Waterville, turned onto Kennedy Memorial Drive from Cool Street, Wing said. The cruiser struck the Honda in the left front center area, according to Wing, referring to information in the police report written by Winslow police Sgt. Brandon Lund, who investigated the crash.
Wing said the Honda slid into a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup truck being driven by Peter Sack III, 47, of Waterville, that was stopped at the traffic light facing east on Kennedy Memorial Drive and intending to turn left onto Cool Street. A 2018 Nissan Pathfinder SUV operated by Kristin Blethen, 45, of Waterville, was stopped right behind the pickup truck, also waiting to turn left, and the pickup slid back into the Nissan as a result of the crash, according to Wing.
Emergency workers extricated Young, who was complaining of leg pain, from the Honda and she was taken to the hospital; Sack complained of neck pain and was taken to a hospital; and Whitley, the Waterville officer, also was taken to a hospital with his head cut, according to Wing. Blethen, operating the Nissan, did not complain of injury and so was not taken to a hospital. A 14-year-old passenger in Sack’s Ford pickup was not taken to a hospital, Wing said.
Waterville and Winslow rescue services were dispatched to the scene and took patients to the hospital, Wing said. Waterville police helped to direct traffic around the crash.
A Waterville police cruiser was destroyed Monday in a wreck on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville. Photo courtesy of Winslow Police Department
Both the cruiser and Honda were destroyed in the crash and towed from the scene by Ace Towing & Auto Service, and the other vehicles were considered operational, according to Wing. No charges were filed in the crash, he said.
He described the intersection at Cool Street and Kennedy Memorial Drive as very busy, and said the traffic light at the intersection was functioning properly at the time of the crash.
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