MILTON TOWNSHIP – A Milton Township man remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after his car barrel-rolled five times down Concord Pond Road late Monday night, flipping over the top of an apple tree.
Steven F. Roberts, 41, was listed in fair condition at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, a nursing supervisor said Tuesday night.
Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy Chancey Libby said Roberts suffered possible head injuries from bouncing around unbelted in his 1995 Pontiac Grand Am before being ejected.
The wild ride occurred shortly after 9 p.m., the deputy said. Witnesses, some of whom were related to the driver, gave conflicting stories about what happened.
Based on their statements, Libby said Roberts was either just driving fast or racing another car.
“He was going at a high rate of speed when the car left the road and went into a slight skid,” he said. The speed and a soft, sandy road shoulder caused the car to roll several times, he added.
The crash occurred on a slight turn, at 258 East Milton Road, known locally as Concord Pond Road. Libby said that when the car skidded, the front was sliding sideways along the top of the road, while the rear was sliding through the sand in a slight ditch.
“The vehicle then barrel-rolled about four times, but on the fifth time, the nose of the car dug in the ground as the rear flipped over the top of an apple tree,” he said.
From the spot where the car left the road to where it landed measured 422 feet, he said, according to a reconstruction done by Trooper Tim Turner of the Maine State Police Commercial Division.
“Somewhere in that rolling, the driver got ejected and landed about 40 feet from the car. I’m guessing he got ejected through the passenger door because it got ripped forward and was laying almost along the front of the car,” Libby said.
He said Roberts was not wearing a seat belt, and the car’s air bag did not go off.
Roberts, Libby said, was conscious when he arrived, “but he wasn’t making any sense. I was told that was consistent with head injuries.”
Rumford firefighters and Tri-Town Rescue of West Paris were called, and Tri-Town took Roberts first to Rumford Hospital, then to Lewiston.
Although the car was totaled, there was no front or rear damage, and the passenger compartment “held out well,” Libby said.
“If he had a seat belt on, he may not have had any injuries, but getting ejected from the car and getting bounced around inside is what caused his head injuries,” he said.
“After getting ejected and still being alive, he’s pretty lucky. On the second flip, he got some pretty good air time. It was 25 feet to 30 feet apart from where the car left the ground to where it hit on some of those rolls,” Libby added.
Charges, he said, are pending completion of the investigation.
Libby said Roberts refused a blood alcohol test. Such tests are routine after most wrecks.
The car was impounded.
Also assisting was Oxford County Sheriff’s Cpl. Timothy Ontengco.
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