2 hospitalized after Wallagrass crash

WALLAGRASS, Maine — Two men involved in a woods road accident here Tuesday morning were transported to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with injuries that were not life threatening , according to information released by the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.

Ronald Ricciardi, 49, of Eagle Lake was driving east on the Irving Woodland-owned Wallagrass Road just before 7:30 a.m. in his 2006 Ford pickup truck when he collided with a Western Star logging truck operated by Darren Pelletier, 27, of Fort Kent who was traveling west, according to information provided by Sgt. Forrest Dudley of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.

Ricciardi, and his passenger, Kenneth Chambers, 72, of Springfield were in the woods hunting moose, according to Dudley, and the two vehicles met in a corner of the narrow logging road about five miles in, off Aroostook Road. Neither driver was able to react quickly enough to avoid a collision.

Members of the Fort Kent Volunteer Fire Department used the Jaws of Life to remove Ricciardi from the pickup. He and Chambers were taken by ambulance to Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent.

Chambers was later flown to EMMC and Ricciardi was transported to the Bangor hospital by ambulance, Dudley said.

The pickup was declared a total loss while the loaded logging truck sustained minimal damage to its trailer.

No charges are pending but the accident remains under investigation.
Deputy Michael Montpetit is the primary investigator and was assisted at the scene by Deputy Kristopher Malmborg.