HOULTON, Maine — For the third time in six months, a Houlton Police Department vehicle has been involved in an accident, and this time it is totaled, the acting chief said Monday.
The latest accident happened at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, near Hilltop Lanes Bowling Alley, according to Acting Police Chief Daniel Pelletier. The incident involving the 2015 Ford F-150 police truck is being investigated by the Maine State Police.
Houlton Police Officer Jasmine Cyr, 27, of Oakfield was on routine patrol traveling south when she pulled into the business parking lot to turn around and head back north, according to a press release issued by Maine State Police Sgt. Chad Fuller.
Cyr didn’t see an oncoming 2006 Chevrolet Equinox SUV when she drove back onto U.S. Route 1 from the parking lot and the two vehicles collided head on, Fuller reported in the release.
The SUV’s operator, Monica Jones, 42, of Amity and two juvenile passengers were taken to Houlton Regional Hospital with injuries that were not suspected to be life-threatening, the sergeant said. Cyr also was taken to Houlton Regional Hospital with suspected head injuries.
All involved were wearing seatbelts, which combined with the airbags that deployed, are believed to have prevented more serious injuries, according to Fuller.
A large snow bank obscured Cyr’s view to the north and appears to have contributed to the crash, according to the release. Speed was not considered a factor in the accident, which was investigated by Trooper Adam Bell.
Cyr was hospitalized for two days and is recovering at home, according to acting chief Pelletier.
She is a full-time police officer for the Houlton Police Department, but has not yet been through training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. She is scheduled to go in January, according to Town Manager Butch Asselin.
The latest incident is still under investigation, according to Fuller.
The first accident involving the Houlton police truck occurred when former Chief Joe McKenna was traveling west on June 10 just before 5 p.m. and encountered an all-terrain vehicle traveling east in the travel lane and operating well above legal speed, according to a report on that crash by the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.
McKenna reported turning on the truck’s emergency lights and pulling onto the right shoulder of the road to initiate a U-turn to stop the SUV, according to the sheriff’s office. The then-police chief said he checked his mirrors, did not see any vehicles coming behind him, and began making the U-turn.
At the same time, a 17-year-old, who was traveling behind McKenna in a 2001 Honda, tried to pass the police truck on the left and both vehicles collided in the eastbound lane, causing significant damage to both, Sheriff Darrell Crandall said back in June.
Nobody was injured and no charges were filed in that crash.
The other accident with the truck occurred several weeks ago and was minor, according to Town Manager Asselin. One of the Houlton Police officers hit a deer with the vehicle in a rural part of the community, causing $1,600 in damage to the truck.
Asselin said Monday he is “grateful that no one was hurt more seriously” in the latest collision. He was “doubtful” the town would purchase a truck again, since it is more expensive to buy and repair than a cruiser. “I think it is just not worth it,” he said.
