By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

DIXFIELD – A Dixfield man was in critical condition at Central Maine Medical Center on Saturday night, following a dramatic three-car collision in the afternoon that also injured two others.

Christopher Jasud, 29, was the lone occupant of a Chrysler New Yorker, involved in the 2:15 p.m. accident.

Nina Langervin of Dixfield, driving a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo, was listed in stable condition at Franklin Memorial Hospital, according to a nursing supervisor.

And a female passenger in the third vehicle, whose name was unavailable late Saturday, had to be extricated. She also was in stable condition at Central Maine Medical Center, according to Dixfield police officer Jeff Howe who was in charge of the investigation. The car she was riding in was being driven by a Herbert Campbell, who apparently suffered only minor injuries.

Jasud was found breathing, face down on the ground, Howe said

The trapped woman was freed by Rumford firefighters using hydraulic tools.

Two of the victims were airlifted from Rumford Hospital after being taken there by Med-Care Ambulance

Traffic on Route 2 was shut down for nearly four hours.

According to Howe, Dixfield Patrolman Rusty Daley was headed east on Route 2 when a car passed him heading west at a high rate of speed. Howe said Daley clocked the car operated by Jasud at 55 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to his radar unit. Jasud would be facing a criminal speeding charge, Howe added.

Daley, he said, turned around to pursue Jasud’s vehicle but it had disappeared from view , and when he rounded the corner, he came upon the crash scene.

Jasud, Howe said, was operating with a suspended driver’s license at the time of the accident.

“This was not a police chase. He was trying to make a traffic stop,” stressed Pickett, whose account was later corroborated by Howe.

The front end of the Monte Carlo, the only car that remained on the road, was crushed back into the driver’s compartment. The car was facing the wrong way in the westbound lane.

The crushed Chrysler came to rest off the westbound lane after slamming into a tree. It was facing east. A severed wheel lay beside it, along with a blue tarp.

The mangled station wagon also was off the westbound lane.

Debris from the collisions, including a car battery that had been ripped apart, was scattered all over both lanes and shoulders.

The wreckage was in a straightaway just beyond a curve and opposite a long turnout lane beside the Androscoggin River.

Dean Milligan, Med-Care director, who was at the scene, said he called two Med-Care ambulances and the NorthStar ambulance, then asked for LifeFlight, which, he was told, wasn’t available.

One LifeFlight helicopter was at Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, picking up a skier with a reported back injury, and was to fly the person to the Lewiston hospital, he said.

But, Milligan was able to get a LifeFlight helicopter out of Bangor to fly to Rumford Hospital, along with a medical helicopter from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover, N.H.

Med-Care and NorthStar Ambulance also transported victims.

Traffic was rerouted through Canton and Peru. Dixfield firefighters handled the accident scene, dousing the Monte Carlo and Chrysler, and spreading absorbent materials.

Maine State Trooper Larry Rose of North Yarmouth was called to reconstruct the accident. Assisting officers included Dixfield Patrolman Howe, who took over the investigation from Daley and Pickett, and Mexico Patrolman Jeff Stoddard and reserve officer Bernadette Dickinson.

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