LEWISTON — A Lisbon man who left the scene of a fatal accident near his home in June pleaded guilty Friday to related charges.

Zachary Greene 24, of 24 Spring St. entered guilty pleas in 8th District Court to leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death, a felony, and violation of condition of release, a misdemeanor.

A judge is expected to sentence Greene on the two charges in April. The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000; the maximum penalties for a misdemeanor are six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Defense attorneys and prosecutors will be allowed to argue for any sentence up to the maximum.

According to police, Greene had been turning from Lisbon Street onto Memorial Street when his pickup truck collided with a motorcycle driven by Jeff Sickel, 28, of Brunswick on June 11. Sickel, who suffered severe head injuries from the impact, later died at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston when he was removed from life support.

Assistant District Attorney Kate Bozeman said Greene told police he thought he saw the operator of the motorcycle that collided with his truck “fly over the hood” and land in the roadway. He initially said he thought he heard something hit his truck, but hadn’t seen anything, so he continued on his way home near the crash scene.

Greene told Lisbon police that he had been returning home from a McDonald’s restaurant on Lisbon Street around 10 p.m. when he made the left turn onto Memorial Street.

He thought the crash might have been serious when he later saw flashing lights of emergency vehicles from the window at his home.

Bozeman said Detective William Tapley would have testified that surveillance video from Five County Credit Union had shown the truck and motorcycle just prior to the crash, which helped officers identify Greene.

Greene, who held a medical marijuana card, told police he’d been fearful they would think he’d been smoking because he had a small amount of the drug in his truck at the time.

Had the case gone to trial, Bozeman said she would have called a Maine State Police expert as a witness, who would have testified that a white paint flake from the crash scene matched the paint on Greene’s pickup truck.

Greene remains on bail until sentencing, but conditions were changed to include no excessive consumption of alcohol.

He also faces the civil infraction of motor vehicle violation resulting in death, which carries a motor vehicle suspension of between 14 days and four years, as well as a fine of up to $5,000. A trial date on that violation is expected to be scheduled in 8th District Court.

Zachary Greene

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.