FARMINGTON — A Wilton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving his car through a wooden fence at Hippach Field and to smashing mailboxes in separate cases in October 2011.

Daniel A. Herrin, 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal mischief and one count of driving to endanger in Franklin County Superior Court.

A charge of criminal speed was dismissed in a plea agreement with the state.

Justice Michaela Murphy ordered Herrin to serve seven days in jail and to pay restitution of $500 to the town of Farmington within 90 days. She also ordered him to pay additional restitution of $96.67 in the mailbox case.

On the driving to endanger charge, he was ordered to pay a $570 fine. He also lost his driver’s license for 90 days.

Herrin plans to do his jail time in an alternative program.

Police said Herrin sped down Front Street in Farmington, failed to navigate the corner onto Route 4 and crashed through the fence at Hippach Field. The town’s wading pool was on the other side of the fence. The 1997 Oldsmobile was clocked at 68 mph in a 25-mph zone by a Maine State Police trooper, but the car did not go into the pool.

Herrin was issued a court summons on charges of criminal speed and driving to endanger. He and three passengers escaped serious injury, though one passenger complained of shoulder pain, police said at the time.

The estimate of damage to the fence was $5,000.

Herrin and the three passengers each received summonses on charges of criminal mischief after a resident showed up at the scene saying the occupants in the vehicle had just smashed his mailbox. The teens admitted to smashing three mailboxes between New Vineyard and Farmington. 

dperry@sunjournal.com

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