FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Police said Wednesday that charges are pending following a late afternoon accident on Tuesday that sent one individual to a Bangor hospital.
Fort Fairfield Police Sgt. Shawn Newell said Wednesday that the crash that seriously injured Austin Hilton, 22, happened at around 3 p.m.
According to Newell, the single vehicle rollover took place on the Paige Road in Fort Fairfield.
Newell said that the driver, Ashley Doughty, 18, of Fort Fairfield lost control of her 2004 Mercury Sable. He said that speed was a factor.
Police arrived and found Doughty outside of her vehicle with four other passengers, one of whom was Hilton. He had been seated in the rear of the vehicle on the passenger side and was not wearing a seat belt. Hilton was partially ejected during the crash.
All four of the passengers were taken by Crown Ambulance to The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle. Three of the individuals, whose names are not being released, were treated for minor injuries and discharged a short time later.
Hilton was airlifted by Fresh Air to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was listed in fair condition Wednesday afternoon. He suffered spinal injuries and broken bones, according to Newell.
Charges are pending, the sergeant said Wednesday.
Members of the Fort Fairfield Fire Department, Maine Warden Service, U.S. Border Patrol and Maine State Police assisted at the scene.
This truly makes me sick. When will our young adults learn that vehicles are not toys and deserve some respect. Anyone that knows this area that it happened in know its a blind hill going up and straight down the round a sharp corner. Why the speed. Is it such a rush to jump the hill?? Seriously people this could have been much worse had a car been coming up the back side of the hill.. Slow down. No matter where you are going or how late you will be nothing beats saving a life
got to get more tough
To me it is more a respect issue. Its a privilege to have a license, and should be treated as such. As StateGal wrote, there also is a family of Amish that travel this road numerous times a day. They truly should feel lucky they went off where they did, instead of a distance further down the hill. They would have went swimming in the pond, which the outcome may have been different. My father always told me.. no matter how good you drive and how safe you are, what you really need to pay attention to is the others out there. I also wish if you are going to be reckless and not give a damn about what the consequences could be, that they would have enough decency to make sure they have no one else in the vehicle. To many innocent lives are lost each and every day to the stupid, and selfishness of others.
Let’s not forget about the Amish who are sometimes just on the other side of hill going down or cresting the top in their buggies, have seen cars come right up on them and squeal tires to stop before hitting them. The hill is posted but FFPD does not do enough drive arounds in the country to trap speeders, they target downtown only. We pay good tax dollars to be protected for just this exact type of issue – but usually a FFPD cruiser is only out this way when needed, after the fact. Am glad the kids are young enough to remember this – hopefully will become advocates now for safer driving.
A few are to busy sitting in town chatting with the teens, sitting in a few spots playing on their computers, or just doing what ever to give a damn until needed. Then sometimes its almost like they are bothered by being needed. Seems funny to me that you can call the station or stop by and there is never anyone there. If they are needed desperately its either call 911 or hit the option on the phone line to speak to an officer immediately then you are transferred over to the highway dept to dispatch out. unreal! Fort Hill St is another Rd that they fly down and around. There are tons of kids in the area, many complaints yet it still doesn’t slow them down. I think speed bumps in areas of high speed would serve the purpose. They would either slow down, or beat their car all to hell!
any bets there was a cell phone possibly involved?
There was NO cell phone involved, at all. Why I know? Because I was the driver of this accident. Sure it can make you sick. When don’t teenagers make you sick? We’re learning. We’re not perfect, and I bet neither were you when you were our ages. Yeah, I made a wrong judgement, and lost control of my car, sending one of my good friends downstate. Do you not know how your hurtful comments make ME feel? I was wrong in what I did, but you’re no better for making these accusations. You weren’t in the car at the time, you have no right to make such rude comments on my behalf. It was an honest mistake of me, and I have to live with the consequences. If you have any other problems with me, please feel free to take it up with me personally, or my insurance company and not make your hurtful comments. I can see them.
Unfortunately Ashlee many who post here are very dillusional and feel they are perfect, my heart goes out to you and your friends, every person posting on here has made mistakes and were just lucky to not have bad things happen, I am so sick of the cell phone comments, I had a friend die on bad winter roads and many made cell phone comments, it broke my heart, one was not involved, some people are just too small minded to think differently, learn from your mistake and know not every person is naive enough to think this could not happen to their own kids or loved ones.
thank you. I can say I have learned, and if I do ever get behind the wheel of a car again I won’t be such a driver as I was. I feel horrible for my actions, and I’m sick of the comments and rumors about it. But again, thank you for being so understanding.
If charges are pending, then Ashlee should not be commenting.