GREENWOOD — A local man was arrested on four charges, after the car he was driving crashed into trees and he took off, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office officials said.
Jason Curtis, 25, of Hayes Hill Road, is charged with operating a motor vehicle after his license was suspended for being a habitual offender, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, unauthorized use of property , and failure to report an accident in a timely manner, according to police.
The license suspension charge is a Class C offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The other charges are Class D misdemeanors, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Oxford County Deputy Joshua Aylward wrote in an affidavit that at 7:42 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, he received a report of a single-vehicle accident in the area of 1975 Greenwood Road and found a Subaru Impreza on its side up against trees.
“It appeared as if the vehicle was traveling north at a high rate of speed and lost control on ice,” Aylward wrote. “The road had an icy coating on it. It appeared as if the vehicle rolled over a couple of times before coming to rest against the trees.”
Stephen Duff, 25, was standing beside the vehicle and Aylward asked if he was the driver. Duff said it was Curtis.
“(Duff) explained how he and Curtis got into an argument, and he got out of the vehicle and decided to walk while Curtis drove ahead,” Aylward wrote. “Stephen stated he kept walking along Greenwood Road and came upon the accident.”
Aylward wrote that he smelled liquor coming from the vehicle and learned that it was registered to Kendall Hill, 18. Hill’s mother said she took the vehicle to Curtis and paid him $150 to fix it.
Curtis did not have permission to be driving the vehicle because he didn’t have a license, Aylward wrote.
According to the affidavit, Curtis, in a conversation with his girlfriend on Facebook, wrote that he walked away from the accident because he didn’t have a driver’s license.
Aylward, Deputy Stephen Witham and Cpl. Joshua Wyman repeatedly visited Curtis’ residence but he was not there. On Thursday, Dec. 8, Aylward and Lt. Brian Landis went to Curtis’ residence and found him hiding in a bedroom “between the wall and bed with several blankets over him.”
He was arrested and taken to the Oxford County Jail in Paris.
Capt. Edward Quinn, jail administrator, said Curtis was at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.