MADAWASKA, Maine — Caribou police summoned a Caribou man, Thursday, March 30, on charges of operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.
The Madawaska Police Department brought the charges against Douglas Hise, 49, and stem from a string of accidents in Madawaska, Feb. 11, along U.S. Route 1 in which Hise drove in the wrong lane for several miles.
Law enforcement and emergency services responded to the first accident at the Grand Isle and Madawaska town line and a second accident east of downtown Madawaska in St. David.
Multiple cars had avoided Hise by swerving into the opposite lane. According to police, Hise’s Cadillac Escalade eventually struck a vehicle that Katrina Hazelton, 38, of Van Buren, was driving. Hazelton lost control of her GMC Suburban and spun into a snowbank on the opposite side of the road. She was subsequently transported to Cary Medical Center in Caribou.
Police allege Hise continued driving north on Route 1, toward Madawaska, when he struck a small southbound SUV that Wilson Beaulieu, 73, of Madawaska, was driving. That collision disabled both vehicles. Hise and Beaulieu were taken to Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent. According to police none of the three sustained life threatening injuries.
Madawaska Police Chief Ross Dubois said, Monday, April 3, his department had been building a case against Hise for the past several weeks, but had to wait until they had access to Hise’s toxicology report prior to drawing up the charges.
Police served Hise at his residence, Dubois said. Each of the two counts is a Class D misdemeanor. Dubois said it is standard procedure for the Maine Secretary of State’s office to suspend the license of those charged with a first OUI offense prior to any court action. That is an administrative process separate from the legal case, and Dubois could not confirm if Maine Secretary of State had suspended Hise’s license as of Monday.
Hise is expected to make a May 3 appearance at Maine District Court in Madawaska.
