Accident closes road for 8 hours > Lincoln driver pinned in truck

BUCKSPORT — An early-morning accident Wednesday pinned the driver of a tractor-trailer in the cab of his truck for more than an hour and closed Route 46 in Bucksport for part of the day.

The accident occurred at about 3:45 a.m. Wednesday at a sharp curve on Route 46 near the head of Hancock Pond, according to Bucksport Police Officer Alvertie Patten.

He said the driver of the truck, Lorenzo Grieco, 41, of Lincoln, missed the sharp curve on Route 46 and drove off the road and down an embankment. Patten said Grieco told him that a large animal had jumped into the road in front of the truck, causing the accident.

The officer said that heavy fog Wednesday morning also may have been a factor in the accident.

Patten said the truck, owned by G.E. Godding of Lincoln, traveled off the roadway and continued for 60 or 70 feet down an embankment.

“The truck kind of slingshotted on the way down and came to rest on its side,” Patten said. “The trailer also was on its side.”

Patten said the truck had been loaded with 20 to 25 tons of dry cement when the accident occurred.

Rescue workers from the Bucksport Fire Department and the Bucksport Ambulance Corps used the Jaws of Life rescue tool to free Grieco from the wreckage.

Bucksport Fire Capt. Craig Bowden said both of Grieco’s legs were pinned in the cab of the truck.

“It took more than an hour to get him out,” Bowden said. “The windshield, the steering column, all of the levers and the passenger seat had to be cut before we could get to him to free his legs.”

Bowden said Grieco received abrasions and contusions in the accident and also was being checked for internal injuries. He was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was listed in serious condition late Wednesday afternoon.

Route 46 was closed for about eight hours while a wrecker crew worked to tow the truck and trailer back up the embankment. The road was reopened at about 12:30 p.m. The truck was demolished in the accident, according to Patten.

The accident is still under investigation.