RUMFORD – A reported hit-and-run wreck Monday perplexed police until another caller reported another hit-and-run incident four hours later.

As a result of the second complaint, and further investigation, police said they determined the first caller filed a false report.

Subsequently, Joshua Umbro, 18, of Rumford was summoned and charged with failure to report an accident by the quickest means possible, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, and filing a false police report. He is slated to be arraigned on Jan. 6 in Rumford District Court.

Officer Daniel Garbarini said the case began at 8 a.m. Monday when Umbro’s mother called reporting that their 1991 Ford sedan had been struck by an unknown vehicle on Kennebec Street.

However, Garbarini couldn’t find all of the missing parts from the maroon, four-door car where the accident allegedly happened.

Then, at 12:30 p.m., officer Michael Halacy investigated a call from Russell Ouimet, 49, of Rumford about a hit-and-run incident on Franklin Street. And there Halacy found the missing pieces of Umbro’s vehicle.

“I called Umbro up and I said, ‘What gives here? I just found the missing corner marker of your car on Franklin Street,’ and the kid confessed,” Garbarini said.

Joshua Umbro and three juveniles were driving up Franklin Street at 2 a.m. Monday when he fiddled with the radio, took his eyes off the road and struck Ouimet’s Jeep, Garbarini said.

“He said he got scared and drove off,” he added.

Umbro’s vehicle sustained $1,200 damage. Damage was estimated at between $400 and $500 to Ouimet’s Jeep. There were no injuries.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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