BELFAST, Maine — The man who crashed his car into the Gothic building in downtown Belfast on March 26 died of blunt force trauma, according to a report from the state medical examiner’s office.
Vincent Scipione, 51, of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, died from injuries suffered in the crash, and his death was deemed an accident, Chief Medical Examiner Mark Flomenbaum wrote in the report released earlier this month.
Scipione was alone in his white Mercury sedan that afternoon when he drove fast down Main Street hill toward town. According to the report, he was estimated to be going as fast as 50 miles per hour when he lost control of his vehicle, struck a parked car and then plowed into the brick Gothic building. Scipione was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor by LifeFlight of Maine helicopter. He died at the hospital, according to the report.
A toxicology report also indicated that Scipione did not test positive for alcohol or other substances.
After the accident, officials were uncertain whether Scipione had died as a result of injuries he suffered in the crash or if he had a different medical problem that caused his death and the accident. Maine State Police still are working on a vehicle autopsy to see if there was some kind of mechanical defect, but according to Detective Sgt. Bryan Cunningham of the Belfast Police Department, unofficial results indicate that there were no vehicle defects that could have caused the accident.
No one else was injured in the crash, which destroyed a parked Saab sedan owned by a Vienna couple and which damaged a Mazda that was being parked at the time of the accident. The Gothic building also was damaged in the crash.