LEWISTON — A judge ordered high bail or supervised release Wednesday for an Auburn man charged with multiple felonies stemming from an August crash that seriously injured a college student.

Dalton Farrington, 27, of 483 Hotel Road appeared in 8th District Court on five charges, including drugs and assault, the most serious punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors told the judge that Farrington had been intoxicated on morphine and fentanyl at the time of the crash that sent Alesha Gregoire, 20, of Lewiston to the hospital with a fractured femur and tibia, a broken upper arm and two broken lower arms.

She has undergone three surgeries. A student at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, she was unable to return there this fall because of her injuries and treatment, police said.

Active-Retired Judge John Beliveau told Farrington he had been turned down for a court-appointed attorney because he earned too much money, but that he might qualify if he were to lose his job.

“I already lost my job,” said Farrington, who added that he’d been working through a daily temporary agency.

Beliveau advised Farrington to have his finances screened a second time.

Assistant District Attorney Nathan Walsh said Farrington’s criminal record numbered 24 pages, including probation revocation for burglary and theft convictions.

He referred to Farrington’s “severe substance abuse disorder” that contributed to a “very serious crash that was nearly fatal.”

Walsh urged the judge to keep the $25,000 cash bail in place or, as an alternative, supervised release from Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn subject “to strict reporting and testing” for drug use.

“Very strict,” Beliveau said, repeating the prosecutor’s bail request.

Farrington didn’t enter pleas to the charges because they are all felonies. A defendant may only be arraigned on a felony after a grand jury has handed up an indictment.

Police said Farrington was driving a tow truck on Lisbon Street the evening of Aug. 16 when his truck veered into oncoming traffic. Greogoire was driving a Subaru in the opposite direction and tried to avoid the truck by turning into the center turning lane. But Farrington sought to correct his error by turning back toward his lane when the collision happened.

Police later found syringes and fentanyl in a Farrington’s backpack in the truck cab. A lab detected morphine and fentanyl in his urine, suggesting he could have been using heroin and fentanyl, Walsh said.

Several witnesses had told police they had seen the truck, which that was carrying another vehicle, driven by Farrington, veering fully into the wrong lane before the crash. One motorist shot video of the erratic driving, police wrote in an affidavit.

Farrington told police he’d been holding his cellphone while looking at Google maps when the crash occurred.

A dispatcher for CGT Transport of Gorham, which owned the tow truck, told police he had sent Farrington to pick up a vehicle on Court Street in Auburn shortly before 6 p.m. The dispatcher told police that the truck Farrington was driving appeared to be parked for 15 minutes in Lewiston instead of responding to the call. When the dispatcher texted Farrington about the delay, Farrington said he’d been held up in balloon festival traffic. The dispatcher and responding officer suggested that Farrington’s location would not have been on a route on which festivalgoers were likely to have taken. Detective Danielle Murphy wrote in her affidavit that the area where Farrington was parked is known for drug trafficking.

« Previous

Lewiston-Auburn chamber names Shanna Cox as president

Next »

Dale Crafts formally declares candidacy for US House seat