DIXFIELD — Sgt. Jeff Howe described Wednesday morning’s accident on Main Street as a truck running into itself.

He was referring to an Irving Forest Products tractor-trailer that had a mechanical failure.

Walter Lehto, 65, of East Dixfield was
driving the 1994 Kenworth truck west on Main Street at 6:10
a.m. when he felt the trailer start to
separate from the tractor, Howe said. Lehto applied the
breaks hoping to prevent a separation, but the 45-foot trailer filled with wood shavings hit the rear of the tractor and slid down the side of it before stopping.

Howe estimated damage at between $6,000 and $10,000. Five gallons
of hydraulic fluid spilled, and the Dixfield Fire Co. and an Irving crew
cleaned it up. The Maine Department of Environmental
Protection was called.

The westbound lane of Main Street was closed for about two hours. Members of the fire
company directed traffic.

Howe said the tractor-trailer was
driven back to the Irving yard on Hall Hill Road.

Burglary

A Mill Street resident reported at
12:20 p.m. Aug. 13 that several people had apparently been using
his apartment for parties while he was gone. A grill housed in the
garage was used for cooking, several candles were burned, and
the residence was ransacked. Fifteen bags of evidence will be sent to
the state lab for fingerprinting.

Accident

A pickup truck driven by Jacob Averill,
19, address unknown, struck a moose at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 18 as Averill
was driving north on Route 142. The moose was killed. The truck sustained $1,500 damage.