By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – A 4-year-old girl was seriously hurt Wednesday morning when a truck slammed into a day-care center on Sabattus Street.

The injured girl was dug out of the rubble by Donna Levasseur, owner of Donna’s Daycare Center at 977 Sabattus St., where the crash occurred, according to witnesses.

The 4-year-old suffered broken bones in her face, arm and shoulder as well as a broken collarbone, police said. The girl was taken to Central Maine Medical Center, where she was undergoing surgery later Wednesday to place pins in her arm, according to Lisa Gagnon, Levasseur’s sister.

Police were not releasing the name of the victim Wednesday night as the investigation was ongoing. The girl was admitted to CMMC, where she was being treated for her injuries.

Police said icy roads may have been a factor in the accident, but they charged 27-year-old Carl Dematteo, of Litchfield, with driving to endanger. Investigators said Dematteo was driving too fast for the road conditions when his truck slid out of control and smashed through a giant picture window at the front of the building.

Reached by telephone later in the day, Dematteo declined to comment.

Investigators said Dematteo was heading inbound on Sabattus Street at about 7:30 a.m. when he slid out of control and struck the building.

“It’s our belief that this accident could have been easily avoided,” said police Lt. Tom Avery.

Most of the children had not yet arrived at the day-care center when the truck hit the building, according to employees there. Most of the kids – roughly 15 of them – were inside near the back of the building, eating breakfast.

When the truck slammed into the building, glass was thrown into the house and a wall came tumbling down. Levasseur quickly found the 4-year-old girl beneath the rubble.

“The half wall was on top of her. She was completely covered in glass,” Gagnon said. “It was not a good sight.”

Levasseur got the girl out from underneath the rubble as help arrived. Firefighters from a substation across Sabattus Street rushed over to assist at the crash scene. Passing motorists also stopped to help, a day-care employee said.

A young boy suffered a bruised finger in the chaos of the crash, police said. That boy, a 4-year-old, was examined and later released.

Shortly after the accident, the front of the day-care center was covered with tarps. Cleanup crews were brought in soon after and repairs were being made.

According to Gagnon, damage to the center went beyond the smashed-in front of the building. The business had to dispose of all its toys for young children, sleeping bags, mats, playpens and other items.

“It’s all covered in glass,” Gagnon said.

In addition, the business will have to replace floors and rugs, and it will be two weeks before a replacement window is available. Gagnon said her sister was more concerned late Wednesday with the recovery of the girl rather than the recovery of the business.

“It’s about the kids. It’s definitely about the kids,” Gagnon said. “Donna is doing OK. She keeps breaking down, but she’s holding up pretty well.”

Darren Dodson was on his way to the day-care center Wednesday morning to drop off his 23-month-old son when he heard about the crash. The news both saddened and horrified him as he thought about what could have happened.

“It’s just very sad. And it’s the kind of thing that shouldn’t have happened,” Dodson said. “The road was covered with snow. Nobody should have been driving fast on it, that’s for sure.”

The speed limit in front of the center is 30 mph. Police have not said how fast they believe Dematteo was driving.

The crash at Donna’s Daycare was the most dramatic accident in a morning marked by collisions and cars off the road. In almost every area of western Maine, police and rescue crews scrambled from one crash scene to another.

In Lewiston-Auburn and surrounding towns, police said the crashes mostly involved cars and trucks sliding off roads slicked with snow or black ice. On the Maine Turnpike, traffic was slowed to a crawl in the Gray area as several vehicles slid off the roadway.

More cars were sliding off roads, into each other or into poles in Sabattus, Fryeburg and in towns and cities in between. In Lewiston, early morning crashes amounted mostly to damages and headaches.

At 7:10 a.m., a Suzuki driven by Michelle L. Jolicouer, 24, of Lewiston, slid into a Ford driven by Vernon T. Gerrish, 61, of Lisbon. No one was hurt, but combined damage to the vehicles was estimated at $5,000.

Minutes later, at 7:15 a.m., two vehicles slid into an intersection at Alfred Plourde Parkway and Pleasant Street. A Dodge driven by Joshua P. White, 20, of Greene, struck the back of an Oldsmobile driven by Jennifer Lee, 25, of Lewiston. Damage to the vehicles was estimated at $3,000.

By nightfall, more scattered crashes were reported around the tri-county area as temperatures dropped and roads began to freeze over. More snow is expected on Thanksgiving.

At Donna’s Daycare, workers were scrambling to contact insurance representatives and trying to plan repairs. They were also thankful that the crash did not result in more severe injuries or more hurt children.

“We’ve got to look on the bright side,” Gagnon said. “It could have been worse.”

Dodson remained at Donna’s Daycare most of the day Wednesday, helping Levasseur and other workers to patch up the damage.

“The whole family, they’re nice, loving people,” Dodson said. “They definitely put the kids first.”

How to help

To help Donna’s Daycare Center and Preschool, people may call 784-6769

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