AUGUSTA (AP) – The state police detective who was behind the wheel of Gov. John Baldacci’s sport utility vehicle when it crashed last winter retired Thursday after 20 years on the force and said his departure was unrelated to the accident.

James Trask, 42, said he is retiring because he is now eligible for a pension and plans to take a better-paying and less dangerous job as a consultant for the University of Maine at Augusta.

Trask, who has been on the governor’s six-person security detail for nine years, said he decided long before the Feb. 4 accident that he would quit the force when he hit the 20-year mark.

Lee Umphrey, Baldacci’s spokesman, said Trask’s departure came as no surprise because his retirement plans were known within the governor’s office.

“The governor is fond of Jim and thinks he’s very professional and does a great job,” Umphrey said.

“In terms of Jim’s professionalism and personal attributes, you couldn’t ask for a better person to work in the governor’s office.”

Investigators said Trask caused the crash on Interstate 295 in Bowdoinham by driving too fast under slippery conditions. The accident sent him and Baldacci to the hospital.

Trask said Charles Lyons, the president of UMA, approached him last fall about working to establish a campus security force.

Lyons, who said he knew Trask from his work on the governor’s security detail, confirmed Thursday that he first talked to Trask last year about going to work for UMA once he left the state police this year.

“I’m a little melancholy, but I’m excited too” because of the new job, Trask said of his departure. “This (UMA) plan was in place long before the accident.”

AP-ES-07-09-04 0217EDT