Hartford man charged with third OUI

PARIS – A twice-convicted drunken driver who left an accident scene in Hartford on Wednesday was later charged with his third offense.

William Adams, 27, of Hartford was arrested on a Class C charge of operating under the influence of alcohol and a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a property damage accident. He was convicted of OUI in 2009 and 2012.

According to an affidavit by Oxford County Deputy Andrew Whitney, he responded to a report of the accident and found a 2005 Chevrolet van in a ditch. Firefighters there said they saw a man wearing a black tank top and shorts jumping out of the van and running into the woods, the deputy wrote.

Maine State Trooper Brian Hink and a K-9 tracked the man to woods behind a home on Pratt Hill Road. The man identified himself as Adams, Whitney wrote.

“He said he crashed because a car in the other lane drove him off the road,” Whitney wrote.

Adams was booked at the Oxford County Jail in Paris and released on bail Wednesday.

A conviction on the driving charge is punishable by up to five years in prison; the misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a year in prison.

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