Three Sunday crashes keep Camden and Rockport first responders busy

Tue, 10/17/2023 - 2:15pm

    CAMDEN and ROCKPORT — The first Sunday call came in at 6:54 a.m. from Knox Regional Communications Center in Rockland, asking Camden Fire Department, Police and North East Mobile Health Services ambulance crew to respond to a section of Barnestown Road in Camden where a sedan had veered off the road while heading east.

    The female driver was the only person in the Nissan Altima, and she was transported to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport by North East.

    Parts and pieces of the car were strewn along the road, according to police. The crash remains under investigation, and its cause is not yet known.

    Later in the night, just before 8 p.m., a 911 call was placed, this time reporting a single-vehicle crash in the other side of Camden, on Turnpike Drive (Route 52).

    There, near the high rise of a hill before the road descends toward Megunticook Lake, Camden firefighters, police, North East and Rockport Police (assisting Camden with the incident), arrived to find a heavily damaged pickup truck with two injured people, a female driver and a male passenger.

    According to Camden Police Chief Randy Gagne, the driver, Erica Swift, 52, of Dexter, was heading toward Lincolnville when she hit the guard rail on the side of the road.

    Her truck spun 180 degrees, and the rear of the truck then hit the guard rails. She spun another 180 degrees, and again hit the guard rails, this time head-on.

    Swift was charged with operating under the influence and was arrested by Rockport Police Officer Celjeta Bixhaku.

    The passenger in the truck was transported to Pen Bay Medical Center, where he was treated and released, according to Gagne.

    Then, just before 10 p.m., Rockport’s Fire Department, Police and North East Mobile Health Services were alerted to a crash on Commercial Street (Route 1).

    According to Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley, the male driver was heading north from Rockland when he reportedly fell asleep, crossed the highway, and drove across Cedar Works property before crashing into a stone wall, “sending rocks 50 to 60 feet across the parking lot,” said Peasley.

    The driver of the Subaru four-door then apparently exited the vehicle on his own. The Subaru was demolished, and that crash remained under investigation.


    Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657