CARTHAGE — A Peru man driving on Route 142 early Wednesday morning struck and killed a local man who was lying in the road, reportedly intoxicated, police said.

Maine State Police said Bert Knox, 44, was killed instantly in the 5 a.m. accident.

Kim Micks, 38, of Peru was driving a 2005 pickup when he came around a corner and saw what he thought was a dead deer in the road, police said. He tried to straddle the body rather than going off the road and into a ditch, State Police Lt. Don Pomelow said.

Micks, who was uninjured, realized afterward that it was not a deer and called 911 to report the accident, Pomelow said. The section of road, about 400 feet south of West Road, is a fairly tight area with ditches on the sides, he said.

Micks had been on his way to work at a logging operation.

Knox was hit with the undercarriage of the front of the truck, which was not damaged, Pomelow said.

Knox was believed to have been drunk and had a history of lying in the roadway, Maine Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said.

Pomelow said state troopers and Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies told him there had been complaints of Knox lying in the road in the past. A family member also told him that, Pomelow said.

No charges will be filed against Micks, McCausland said.

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