AUBURN – A 19-year-old man driving “extremely fast,” at least more than twice the speed limit, lost control of his pickup truck around midnight Friday and crashed into the Little Androscoggin River, police said.
The driver was Gary J. Peaslee, 19, of New Gloucester, and his passenger was Trevor A. Lund, 18, also of New Gloucester.
“By the time we got there, they were out of the water,” said Auburn Police Officer Chris Hatfield. Lund was standing on the ground, “Peaslee was down the embankment, laying down. He had bruises and cuts.”
Hatfield said Peaslee and his passenger are lucky to be alive. Normally, water would be flowing in the river’s dam. “But when he snapped the Central Maine Power pole, that shut off the dam. He could have very easily been sucked in.”
Before the crash, “Some witnesses said (Peaslee) was going about 80 miles per hour,” down Broad Street, Hatfield said. When he lost control of his truck, according to police, the vehicle went up on a curb, crashed into a mailbox, careened off Broad Street onto Mill Street. It then struck a power pole, snapping it in half, before heading down the hill and into the water.
Peaslee was treated at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and released. Lund wasn’t injured, police said.
It took two tow trucks to haul Peaslee’s pickup truck out of the water. The land was sloped, the grass was wet and the dirt was soft, police said.
Power in the area was turned off for several hours while CMP worked on the downed utility pole. Crews continued to work at the site until 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
Blood tests were taken, and a report will be given to the district attorney, who will decide on whether any charges will be filed. Speed and alcohol are being investigated as possible causes of the crash, Hatfield said.
The pickup, a 1999 GMC valued at about $14,000 which belonged to Peaslee’s father, was totaled, police said.
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