LEWISTON — A Monmouth man who was seriously hurt in a 2025 crash in Turner has filed a lawsuit against the driver of a pickup truck who caused the wreck.
Dana Wessling, a Monmouth police lieutenant, has filed a suit against 42-year-old Sean McNeil, of Minot. The suit also names two people who are accused of providing liquor to McNeil and ignoring his drunken state on the day of the crash.
Police said that on Jan. 6, 2025, McNeil was drunk and driving recklessly when his Ford pickup truck crossed the centerline on Turner Center Road and into the path of Wessling’s police cruiser.
Wessling was seriously injured and flown to a Portland hospital, according to police reports. Also injured was Wessling’s 7-year-old son, whom he had just picked up from day care.
At the time of the crash, police said, McNeil’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .24%, or three times the legal limit.
McNeil was charged and pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated, two counts of reckless conduct and criminal speeding.
He was sentenced to 13 years in prison with all but 2 1/2 years suspended.
The crash, according to Sheldon J. Tepler, an attorney with Hardy Woldf & Downing, has left Wessling’s family in turmoil.
“The terrible injuries suffered by Dana Wessling continue to haunt the victim and his family and caused permanent and irreparable damage to these wonderful people,” Tepler said. “This civil lawsuit is to hold responsible those who caused this permanent harm.”
According to the suit, McNeil had been drinking liquor with his fiancee, Jamie Brennan, and his mother, Denise McNeil, before he got in his pickup truck.
Both Brennan and Denise McNeil are named in the suit, which asserts that the pair “provided and actively encouraged the consumption of liquor to a drunk Sean McNeil,” who was known to have a substance abuse problem.
The group had been drinking at Denise McNeil’s house, according to the suit.
The lawsuit was filed in Adroscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn by Tepler on behalf of Wessling. A hearing to discuss requested damages is scheduled for March 26.
