PERU — Three young men from the River Valley area were taken to a Lewiston hospital in serious condition following a rollover Tuesday night on Route 108, police said.
Speed and alcohol were involved in the wreck that ripped the engine out of the 2004 black Dodge Stratus and spread car parts across three properties for approximately 300 feet, Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer said on scene.
The driver was Cody Blouin, 18, of Peru, who self-extricated himself from the upside-down car. He crawled out of the driver’s seat while entangled in its safety belt, according to witnesses, Cayer said.
Passenger Jesse Bates, 22, of Rumford, was pinned at his hips with his legs under the roof and passenger Ryan Lemay, 21, of Peru, was ejected and landed on a lawn 20 feet behind the mangled car, Cayer said.
When Cayer arrived, Blouin was trying to help Bates, “but he was all banged up,” he said.
“It’s undetermined where the passengers were seated at this time,” he said.
Bates had to be extricated by Rumford firefighters using a combination of stabilization jacks and an airbag, Rumford fire Lt. Sylvanus “Butch” Glover said.
Rumford firefighters set up a landing zone for LifeFlight in the open yard for Dixfield Discount Fuel across the way and down the road a bit. It was raining lightly at the time.
Med-Care Ambulance took Bates to the medical helicopter, which took off for Central Maine Medical Center at 9:43 p.m. A Med-Care crewman radioed dispatchers in Paris that Bates had suffered injuries to his head, chest, abdomen and legs.
Med-Care took Lemay and Blouin by ambulance to CMMC, Cayer said.
The accident happened at about 8:49 p.m. while Blouin was driving the car south on Route 108 at a high rate of speed, Cayer said. The Dodge is owned by his father, Robert Blouin of Peru.
Cayer said the Dodge crossed the centerline and left the road on the easterly side. It just missed a utility pole and impacted a ditch and driveway culvert, went airborne and began to flip end for end several times, he said.
At 182 Auburn Road (also called Route 108), the front of the car slammed into the second driveway, which was paved, and that impact ripped the engine block from the Stratus, he said.
The car continued to flip, ripping up lawns and damaging ornamental bushes before coming to a rest on its roof on the other side of a third driveway. Part of a culvert came to rest near the car. Along with a sneaker, several beer cans were strewn around the wreckage.
The engine came to rest 25 feet from the car.
“Speed and alcohol were clearly a factor,” Cayer said. “Nobody was wearing seat belts.”
Witnesses who ran to the scene from their houses said Blouin was seen climbing out while entangled in the driver’s side safety belt.
“He was walking around on my arrival,” Cayer said.
Oxford County Cpl. Justin Brown reconstructed the accident by flashlight while Peru firefighters and a Bisson & Hebert towing crew picked up body parts from the Stratus.
Oxford County Sgt. Timothy Holland and Rumford Sgt. James Bernard also helped and collected evidence. Brown was going to return to the scene in the daylight on Wednesday to take more measurements.
Cayer said the accident remains under investigation.




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