AUBURN – A Turner man escaped with minor injuries Thursday morning after his vehicle rolled over on Lake Shore Drive, knocking out power to dozens of homes.

Police said 19-year-old Nathan Audet was speeding along the road next to Lake Auburn when he lost control, slammed into a power pole and then rolled the 1995 GMC Jimmy into a stand of trees.

The crash took out an electrical transformer and the pole that supported it, police said. Power lines came down and at least 72 nearby homes went dark.

Police shut down Lake Shore Drive near the intersection at Route 4 as emergency crews responded and cleanup began.

Audet was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he was examined for minor injuries and released.

Investigators said Audet was driving east on Lake Shore Drive when he came upon a curve and lost control of the Jimmy. After slamming into the pole, the SUV rolled, spun in the roadway and crashed into the trees.

The vehicle came to rest in a gully a short distance from the lake with its roof against the trees.

“He’s lucky he didn’t go all the way down into the lake,” police Sgt. James Robicheau said. Speed was a factor in the wreck, police said.

The roadway was reopened to traffic at about 11 a.m. and power was restored to the homes. The crash remains under investigation. Audet’s SUV was totaled.