E. PLANTATION, Maine — Police arrested a Mars Hill man Wednesday morning, charging him with operating under the influence after his vehicle smashed into a utility pole.
The crash happened just after 6:30 a.m. on the E. Plantation Road in E. Plantation, an unincorporated township in central Aroostook, according to Maine State Police Trooper Ryan Kilcollins.
Bryan Stitham, 24, of Mars Hill, was traveling northbound on the roadway when he lost control of his 1998 GMC Sierra pickup, Kilcollins reported in a press release issued Wednesday evening. The truck drifted off the right side of the road and careened into a utility pole, snapping it in half. The pickup then continued through a patch of trees before coming to rest.
Kilcollins said that Stitham acknowledged “drinking beer earlier that morning.” The trooper administered field sobriety tests before arresting Stitham and charging him with OUI. Stitham also was taken to the Presque Isle Police Department to be given an Intoxilyzer test.
Kilcollins said speed and alcohol are suspected factors in the crash.
Stitham, who was not wearing a seatbelt, has since been released on bail. He is scheduled to appear in Presque Isle District Court on Dec. 5.
