BRADLEY, Maine — A man who had been drinking on Monday and who had five passengers in the car he was driving skidded through an intersection and flipped the vehicle, causing himself and a woman to be ejected, police say.
“They’re lucky to be alive,” Sgt. Wil Sheehan of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
Casey Cole, 21, of North Anson, who has a suspended driver’s license, was behind the wheel of a 2000 Chevy Malibu on Government Road just before 9 p.m., according to Sheehan. Cole was heading toward Route 178 and didn’t notice the end of the road was nearing because there is no stop sign at the intersection, the sergeant said.
“The driver had been drinking,” Sheehan said. “That probably didn’t help. He was doing about 45 to 50 [mph] and skidded through the intersection, hit the tar curb on the other side and flipped end over end several times. The vehicle landed on its roof.”
Cole and Allyson Swall, 20, of Embden, who is the car’s owner, both were thrown from the vehicle and suffered minor cuts and bruises.
“It’s very lucky it wasn’t a fatal,” Sheehan said. “Nobody was wearing a seat belt.”
Also in the car were Brandon Caporotta, 18, of Bangor, Ryan Bran, 19, of Madison, Shelby Pinkham, 18, of Embden and Christie Lawrence, 19, of North Anson.
“A couple didn’t have any injuries at all,” Sheehan said, adding later that Cole, Swall and one or two of the passengers were taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with minor bumps and bruises.
Cole was charged with operating under the influence and operating after suspension.
Bradley Fire Department personnel, ambulance crews from Old Town and Orono, and Penobscot County Deputy Mike Knight assisted at the scene. The roadway, also known as the River Road, was closed for a short period of time.
990-8190