LEWISTON — The driver of a tow truck that slammed into a car, seriously injuring its driver, on outer Lisbon Street in August has been arrested on multiple felony charges in connection with the crash.

Dalton Farrington, 27, of 483 Hotel Road in Auburn was arrested on a warrant charging five felonies, including assault and drug crimes.

Farrington was charged with aggravated assault, a Class A crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. He also faces charges of driving to endanger, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, aggravated criminal OUI, and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, all Class C crimes. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

In an affidavit, Detective Danielle Murphy wrote that Farrington was driving a tow truck carrying another vehicle more than 5 mph over the posted speed limit of 45 mph eastbound on Lisbon Street shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 16. Alesha Gregoire, 20, was driving a Subaru westbound when the tow truck veered left into oncoming traffic.

Gregoire braked and attempted to avoid the truck by swerving left into a center turning lane, but Farrington tried at the same moment to correct by turning back toward his proper lane. The truck struck the car, pushing halfway into the driver’s side of the car and pushed it roughly 150 feet backward.

Gregoire was trapped for about 45 minutes while rescue crews cut her out of the vehicle that had flames underneath it. She was taken to a local hospital and treated for a fractured femur and tibia, a severe leg laceration, a fractured upper arm and two fractured lower arms.

She has undergone three surgeries to repair the broken bones. She has no movement in her right wrist and can’t put weight on her right leg. A student, she’d been unable to return to Maine Maritime Academy because of the significance and ongoing treatment of her injuries, Murphy wrote in her affidavit.

Police impounded the tow truck and secured a search warrant for Farrington’s backpack in the cab. Police also ordered a urine test.

Inside the backpack, police found several syringes, a spoon “which appeared to have narcotic residue,” and a small red and white container that had a substance Murphy wrote she recognized as heroin and/or fentanyl.

Farrington’s urine sample tested positive for morphine and fentanyl.

In an interview with police, Farrington said he had been holding his phone to use its GPS Google maps feature when the accident happened, Murphy wrote.

Farrington had denied he had used any legal or illegal drugs and said he had no medical issues.

His probation officer told police Farrington had overdosed on heroin in November 2017 and had been found in possession of heroin in October 2018.

Several witnesses reported Farrington’s erratic driving before the crash, telling a dispatcher the truck had drifted fully into oncoming traffic several times, forcing vehicles out of their proper lanes. One witness captured the scene on video, Murphy wrote.

Surveillance video from a child care center near the crash scene showed the tow truck turning into the wrong lane before swerving partly back into the eastbound lane and colliding with the Subaru.

Farrington was held at Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn in lieu of $25,000 cash bail. Conditions of release include no possession of alcohol and illegal drugs, including marijuana for which he can be searched and tested at random. He may have no contact with Gregoire and is forbidden from driving any motor vehicle.

Farrington is expected to appear in 8th District Court on Wednesday.

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