Police say alcohol contributed to Old Van Buren Road crash

7 years ago

CARIBOU, Maine Police have charged a Westfield man with operating under the influence and driving to endanger after his car crashed on Aug. 19 at the intersection of the Old Van Buren Road and Route 1.

Three passengers, who had left the scene before police arrived, were later treated for unspecified injuries, according to a press release issued on Friday, Aug. 25, by Chief Michael Gahagan.

At about 4:35 p.m. that Saturday, Gavin Kelley failed to make a right hand turn from the Old Van Buren Road onto Route 1, the chief reported. The car traveled across a dirt driveway, went into a ditch and hit a culvert head on, causing the vehicle to become airborne and land in the southbound lane on Route 1, he said.

Caribou police reported on Friday that “alcohol was a major factor” in a crash involving this car on Aug. 19, after which three passengers left the scene and eventually sought treatment for their injuries.
(Courtesy/Caribou Police Department)

Gahagan said officers found two of the passengers, 19-year-old Lyndsay Rowland of Caribou and 18-year-old Ian Tuttle of Presque Isle, walking toward Cary Medical Center, located a few hundred feet away, where the two sought treatment for their injuries.

The chief said officers later learned that another passenger, Dylan Lamothe of Caribou, 19, also had left the scene, but that he too “eventually sought treatment for his injuries.”

Kelley did not leave the scene, but initially told police that he was not involved in the accident, according to Gahagan.

The chief said in the release that “alcohol was a major factor in the crash.”

Kelley has since been bailed out and is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on Oct. 5.