BRISTOL, Maine — A Bristol woman faces a misdemeanor charge after striking Bristol Town Hall and a veterans monument with a pickup truck and leaving the scene.
Angelia L. Anderson, 24, was driving a 2001 Dodge 1500 pickup truck southbound on Bristol Road (Route 130) in Bristol Mills at 3:42 a.m., Saturday, May 16, according to Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Rand Maker.
Anderson “failed to negotiate the corner in the roadway,” Maker said. The truck struck and dislodged a small granite veterans monument in the median or park at the corner of Bristol Road and Upper Round Pond Road.
The impact knocked the monument off its granite base, and the monument came to rest on the opposite side of the median.
The truck continued through the median and struck the front corner of the town hall on the Upper Round Pond Road side, damaging the building and a Central Maine Power Co. meter attached to the building.
The accident also appears to have damaged a low fence around the median made of wooden posts and rope.
The Bristol Fire Department, Central Maine Power Co. and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. Quick Turn Auto Repair & Towing Inc. removed the vehicle.
Anderson “wasn’t at the scene of the crash,” Maker said. The sheriff’s office has since charged her with a single Class E count of “failing to notify of a motor vehicle crash.” A Class E crime carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Anderson said she contacted the sheriff’s office “a couple hours” after the accident. “I just freaked out,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Maker said “alcohol was involved” in the crash, though Anderson probably will avoid an operating under the influence charge because of a lack of physical evidence.
“We don’t have a breath test,” Maker said. “When you leave the scene, it makes that very difficult.”
Anderson said she was not intoxicated at the time of the accident. She said she drank some alcohol several hours before the accident. “I wasn’t drinking and driving,” she said.
She said she “picked up her phone to start texting” before the accident. Texting and driving is a civil offense in Maine.
Bristol Town Administrator Kristine Poland said the town office was closed Monday, May 18, because of the damage to the building and the loss of electricity as a result of the damage to the meter.
There was “a significant amount” of glass, insulation and wood debris inside the building after the collision, Poland said. A small staircase to the attic was impassable and has since been removed.
The inside of the building has been cleaned up and the staircase will be replaced, Poland said. Bristol contractor Mark Prior will complete the repairs.
A representative of the town’s insurance company has been to the town office, and a representative of Anderson’s insurance company has contacted the town, Poland said. The town does not yet have an estimate for the damage or know for sure who will pay for it.
The Bristol Mills Village Improvement Society maintains the median, which also has a flagpole.
The society had the veterans monument made and installed, according to former Selectman Bill Benner. The granite block is the keystone from the old Upper Round Pond Road bridge over the Pemaquid River, Benner said.