A Kingfield man was having a medical emergency Thursday, when the car he was driving went off state Route 27 in Chain of Ponds in northern Franklin County. An investigation revealed the car had collided with a tractor-trailer truck about 15 to 20 minutes earlier in Eustis, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office photo

CHAIN OF PONDS TOWNSHIP — A car driven by a Kingfield man, who was suffering a medical emergency, went off state Route 27 on Thursday and had earlier collided with the side of a tractor-trailer truck in Eustis, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said Friday.

Deputy Stephen Cusson and Sgt. Jacob Richards responded to a report of a crash at 1:04 p.m. A car driven by John Rinehart, 68, of Kingfield had gone off state Route 27, just north of Natanis Point in Chain of Ponds Township and just south of the port of entry in Coburn Gore, Nichols said.

Rinehart was conscious, but was experiencing a medical emergency, Nichols said.

He was taken by a NorthStar EMS ambulance, with a Eustis firefighter at the wheel so medical personnel could tend to Rinehart, to Kingfield Fire Station to meet with a LifeFlight medical helicopter.

He was flown to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He was listed in stable condition, Nichols said.

A Kingfield man was having a medical emergency Thursday when the car he was driving went off state Route 27 in Chain of Ponds in northern Franklin County. An investigation revealed that the car had collided with a tractor-trailer truck about 15 to 20 minutes earlier in Eustis, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office photo

An investigation revealed that Rinehart’s 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse had been parked about 15 to 20 minutes earlier on the side of the north bound state Route 27 lane in Eustis. An L. Breton Transport tractor-trailer driven by Andre Pelquin, 57, of Coaticook, Quebec, Canada, started to pass to the left of the parked car, when it pulled out and struck the side of the truck, Nichols said.

The two drivers stopped and agreed to meet at a safer location at Pines Market in Eustis to exchange information.

Pelquin stopped, but Rinehart’s car kept going north, Nichols said.

U.S. Border Patrol officers and Eustis Fire Rescue Department personnel assisted at the scene.

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coburn gore township maine, eustis maine, kingfield maine
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