Easton man hospitalized after snowmobile collides with Jeep

WASHBURN – An Easton man was injured late Tuesday afternoon when the snowmobile he was riding collided with a Jeep on Route 164, according to local police.

Keith Kneeland, 45, the son of state Sen. Richard Kneeland, was taken to The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle.

Kneeland was transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was reported in fair condition, according a spokeswoman for the Bangor hospital. Kneeland was operating a 1999 Arctic Cat snowmobile on a trail that crossed Route 164 occasionally in the Crouseville section of Washburn, according to Washburn Police Chief Doug Conroy.

At about 5:30 p.m., Kneeland crossed the road and collided with a 1999 Jeep operated by Matthew Piskura, 23, of Crouseville. Neither Piskura nor his passenger, Jaimee Johnson, 24, no address available, suffered any injuries, according to Conroy.

Kneeland, who was wearing a helmet, suffered a variety of broken bones, according to Conroy. The chief credited the helmet with saving the snowmobiler’s life.

The snowmobile was considered a total loss, while the Jeep had an estimated $2,000 in damage.

There have been about 100 snowmobile-related accidents across the state this season, 40 of them in Aroostook County, according to Lt. Michael Marshall of the Maine Warden Service office in Ashland. The figures include six fatalities.

While the statistics are about normal for northern Maine, the number of accidents in other parts of the state are double, since there is enough snow for the sport all around the state, Marshall said.