FARMINGTON — A motorcycle driver and passenger escaped injury Monday morning when they hit a Franklin County Sheriff’s Department van attempting a turn from the Fairbanks Road on to County Way.
The van driver and three passengers also escaped injury.
Johnnie Belanger, 58, of Washington, Maine, was driving his 2010 Harley-Davidson north behind the 2011 GMC county van driven by Phillip Richards. Richards started to turn right into the entrance to the Sheriff’s Department and Franklin County Detention Center, Farmington officer Kim Bates said.
Belanger said he thought the van driver had a left direction signal on and attempted to go around him on the right. As the van turned, he struck the van on the center passenger side, she said.
Neither vehicle was going very fast, and both came to a stop as Belanger laid the motorcycle down.
Belanger’s passenger, Pam Riley, 39, of North Whiteford, wasn’t hurt just shaken, she said at the scene. Both she and Belanger were wearing helmets. There was no damage to the motorcycle other than a bent foot pedal.
Neither Phillips nor his passengers, officer Albert Smith and two inmates riding in the back seat, were injured. The officers were returning the inmates from the Somerset jail, and both wore seat belts, Bates said.
The van received dents and scratches on the right side. Damage was estimated at more than $1,000, she said.
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