WILTON — A Lewiston woman killed in Friday afternoon’s head-on collision on Route 2 near the First Apostolic Church tried to avoid it, Wilton police patrolman Derek Daley said Saturday.
Daley was the first to arrive on scene of the 2:44 p.m. accident involving a 2010 Hyundai sport-utility vehicle driven by Claudette Hutchins, 61, and a 2013 Town & Country van driven by Richard Harvey, 79, of Farmington.
Based on statements from two witnesses who saw the accident happen, Daley said Harvey crossed the centerline and drove into the path of the vehicle traveling in front of Hutchins. The driver of that vehicle, one of the witnesses, swerved out of the way, nearly getting struck, he said.
“Claudette didn’t see it coming,” Daley said. “She saw it at the last minute. The impact happened nearly on the fog line (in her lane), so she was making an attempt to avoid it, but didn’t have enough time.”
Both drivers had to be extricated. It took more than an hour to free Harvey, who was taken by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Wilton police Chief Heidi Wilcox said on Friday.
Hutchins died while being taken by a NorthStar ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Wilcox said.
The other witness was the driver of the tractor-trailer truck traveling behind Hutchins, he said.
“He witnessed the entire scene,” Daley said.
He said Sgt. Chad Abbott is investigating the accident.
“It’s still pending,” he said of the cause. “We haven’t had a chance to talk to Richard yet.”
A CMMC nursing supervisor said Saturday afternoon that she could neither confirm nor deny anything about Harvey, including his condition.
Wilton police will try to interview Harvey today at CMMC to learn why he crossed the centerline, Daley said.
Angela Harvey, 80, of Farmington, a passenger in Richard Harvey’s van, was taken to FMH with injuries. Daley said she was released Saturday morning.
Claire Bergeron, 63, of Lewiston, and a 16-year-old girl who wasn’t identified, were passengers in Hutchins’s SUV. They were both taken by ambulance to FMH, Wilcox said.
Bergeron was later taken to CMMC where she was listed in critical condition early Saturday afternoon, a nursing supervisor said.
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