Maine State Police Troop F Weekly Report (Dec. 11 – 17)

Troop F of the Maine State Police responded to 130 calls for service over the past week in and around Aroostook County. Here is the Troop’s weekly report:

Incident Type: ACCIDENT Date: 12/11/2017 Town: PORTAGE Trooper: CPL. MICHAUD Brief Synopsis: State Police received a call at approximately 0330 that a vehicle had gone off the road and struck a utility pole in Portage. Cpl. Chuck Michaud responded to the scene and his investigation revealed that 47-year-old Bruce Theriault had been driving his 2013 Ford pick-up south on Route 11 when he lost control of his vehicle and went off the roadway. Theriault struck and broke a utility pole in the parking lot of Dean’s Motor Lodge. This caused the utility wires to hang done across the roadway. A short time later, 55-year-old Jeffrey Jandreau, also of Fort Kent, was southbound in a 2013 Western Star tractor-trailer. Jandreau was unable to stop in time and drove the tractor-trailer into the wires. Jandreau came to a stop before any more damage was caused, however, the tractor was entangled in the wires. Route 11 was closed for about 3 hours while Emera was working on replacing the pole and untangling the truck from the power wires. There were no injuries in the crash. The cause of the crash was Theriault driving too fast for the road conditions. All parties involved were wearing seat belts. Portage Lake Fire Department directed traffic at the scene of the crash.

Incident Type: ACCIDENT - SERIOUS INJURY Date: 12/12/2017 Town: EASTON Trooper: CPL. MICHAUD TR. FLYNN Brief Synopsis: On 12/12/17 at approximately 0630 AM State Police received a report of a head-on crash on Route 1A in Easton. The crash had occurred north of the Route 10 / Route 1A intersection. Corporal Chuck Michaud and Trooper Rob Flynn responded to the crash. Their investigation revealed that 43-year-old Eric St. Laurent had been traveling north with his passenger, 42-year-old Justin Hitz (home town unknown). 27-year-old Randall Nash had been traveling south with his 25-year-old passenger, Marci Jerez of Blaine. As the two vehicles approached each other, Eric St. Laurent drifted into the southbound lane and headed straight for the vehicle operated by Mr. Nash. Nash attempted to avoid the crash by driving towards the right shoulder, but St. Laurent’s vehicle struck Nash’s vehicle nearly head on in the southbound lane. Nash and St. Laurent were transported to TAMC by Crown Ambulance with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. Jerez was also transported to TAMC by Crown Ambulance with less serious injuries and Hitz refused to be treated. None of the occupants were wearing seat belts. It is unclear why St. Laurent drifted over into the wrong lane, and the investigation is ongoing.

Incident Type: ASSIST OTHER AGENCY Date: 12/13/2017 Town: ISLAND FALLS Trooper: TR. STOUTAMYER Brief Synopsis: Houlton Police Department called requesting that a Trooper check a location in the town of Island Falls for a stolen backhoe that was stolen from their town back in October. They had information that there was a snowmobile trail near "Frank's Garage" not far from the interstate. Somewhere along this trail was a backhoe that was flipped over, and had its windows broken out of it. The person who reported it to them said they had heard about the stolen backhoe out of Houlton, and the caller thought this might be it. Tr. Stoutamyer went to Island Falls and determined that it wasn't Frank's Garage but Frank Porter's garage. He then located the entrance to the snowmobile trail and walked up the trail, locating the backhoe where it had been flipped over into swamp. Tr. Stoutamyer confirmed it was the stolen backhoe and then notified Houlton PD of backhoe, and of its location.

Incident Type: OUI Date: 12/13/2017 Town: FRENCHVILLE Trooper: TR. DESROSIER Brief Synopsis: Tr. Desrosier was called out to investigate a vehicle that had gone into the ditch in Frenchville. When Tr. Desrosier arrived, he determined the male driver was impaired by alcohol. After the man failed field sobriety testing he was arrested and transported to the Fort Kent Police Department. The man could post bail for OUI and was released.

Incident Type: CRIMINAL SPEED Date: 12/14/2017 Town: HODGDON Trooper: CPL. QUINT Brief Synopsis: Cpl. Quint was conducting traffic enforcement on US Highway 2A, Hodgdon. He observed a vehicle travelling at a high rate of speed and locked its speed at 84 mph in a posted 50 mph zone. There were patches of ice on the roadway and the shoulder was ice-covered. The female driver stated she was running late for work. She was issued a criminal summons for exceeding the posted speed limit by 30 mph or more.

Incident Type: ACCIDENT - SERIOUS INJURY Date: 12/14/2017 Town: DYER BROOK Trooper: TR. DUFF Brief Synopsis: Tr. Duff is investigating a single tractor trailer crash that occurred on I-95 south bound in Dyer Brook. The truck driver had left McCain’s in Easton after having his truck loaded with french fries. While driving south on the interstate he lost control of the truck, went off the right side of the roadway, causing the truck to roll onto its right side coming to rest in the ditch. The male driver sustained serious injuries but they are not life threatening. The man was transported via ambulance to Houlton Regional Hospital and transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center. Sgt. Clark, Cpl. Quint, Tr. D’Angelo (Troop K) and Tr. Flynn (Troop K) also responded to assist with the investigation.

Incident Type: DRUGS Date: 12/14/2017 Town: FRENCHVILLE Trooper: TR. DESROSIER Brief Synopsis: Tr. Desrosier issued a civil summons to a man under the age of 21 for being in possession of a useable amount of marijuana. The man was stopped for a traffic infraction when Tr. Desrosier detected the marijuana. Tr. Desrosier also located various drug paraphernalia in the vehicle.

Incident Type: OAS Date: 12/16/2017 Town: OAKFIELD Trooper: TR. ADAMS Brief Synopsis: Tr. Adams was driving on Route 2 in Smyrna when he observed a vehicle with a red inspection sticker. Tr. Adams turned on the vehicle and stopped it. Upon investigation, the driver of the vehicle had a suspended divers license and had false attached plates. The operator was cited for both and the vehicle was towed. The inspection sicker on the vehicle was from 1998.

Incident Type: OAS/VCR Date: 12/17/2017 Town: ASHLAND Trooper: TR. PESCITELLI, TR. STOUTAMYER, SGT FULLER Brief Synopsis: Tr. Pescitelli was monitoring the flow of traffic on Main St in Ashland when he did a record check on a license plate off a vehicle that had driven by. Records indicated the registered owner was suspended. Tr. Pescitelli stopped the vehicle and the operator admitted to being suspended as well as being on bail. Further investigation revealed the individual had used methamphetamine recently. Upon a search of the vehicle conducted by Troopers Stoutamyer and Pescitelli drug paraphernalia was located inside the vehicle. Sgt. Fuller and K9 Glenni responded to the scene to assist with the search but no other contraband was located. The male was charged with OAS and VCR.

Incident Type: VIOLATION OF BAIL Date: 12/17/2017 Town: MOUNT CHASE Trooper: TR. SAUCIER TR. ADAMS Brief Synopsis: Troopers Saucier and Adams went to a Mount Chase residence to conduct a bail/warrant check. While at the residence, a female was arrested on a warrant by Tr. Adams and a male subject, who was on bail for a domestic violence charge, was arrested by Tr. Saucier for violating his conditions of release. He tested positive for several drug types and was in possession of alcohol. Both subjects were transported to Penobscot County Jail.

Troop F of the Maine State Police is responsible for Aroostook County and the extreme northern sections of Somerset, Piscataquis and Penobscot counties.