Teen dead after Verona accident Pickup crashes with Bucksport police in pursuit

VERONA – With police in pursuit, a pickup truck with five young people crammed into the cab snapped a telephone pole in half, then flipped over a guardrail and rolled down an embankment near the Waldo-Hancock Bridge early Wednesday, killing a 14-year-old girl and injuring the other four persons.

Authorities identified the girl who was killed as Hope Porter of Prospect. She had just finished seventh grade at Bucksport Middle School.

She was riding with friends in a Ford pickup truck on U.S. Route 1 west toward Waldo County about midnight when the crash occurred.

The driver, Frankfort resident Paul Mason, 27, and the passengers were rushed to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Also in the truck were April Kane, 16, of Orland; Nicholas Leach, 19, and the driver’s brother, 22-year-old Adam Mason. Leach and Adam Mason’s hometowns weren’t available.

Hospital spokeswoman Marie Durant said Kane has been treated and released but the three others remained at the hospital Wednesday. Paul Mason was listed in serious condition, Adam Mason was in critical condition, and Leach was in fair condition, she said.

According to reports, a Bucksport police officer had pulled over the truck before the accident and Paul Mason had sped off when the officer got out of his cruiser and approached the vehicle on foot.

Maine State Police are investigating the accident. Repeated phone calls placed Wednesday afternoon to Bucksport police Chief Doug Gray and to Maine State Police Trooper Cliff Peterson were not returned by press time Wednesday night. It could not be determined whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Tire marks at the accident scene indicate the truck went off the left side of Route 1 where it curves west toward the Waldo-Hancock Bridge. The truck went across the grass in front of Island Pool and Spa, returned to the road, then skidded and careened off the far side of the pavement.

The truck went through a utility pole, snapping it in half, and flipped over a guardrail a few yards before the end of the bridge. The truck came to a stop at the bottom of the embankment on the right side of the road.

Glee Honders, who owns Island Pool and Spa with her son, said she was going to bed around midnight when she heard the siren of the police car pursuing the truck. She went to the window of her home behind the business and saw the lights of the truck and the police car flash by the front of the property.

“They were going at a pretty good clip,” she said. A few moments later she heard the wreck, she said.

“There was a big thump,” Honders said. “It was a solid hit.”

Honders said cars frequently are involved in accidents on the curve near her business, but Wednesday’s accident was the only fatal wreck she could remember in the 14 years she has lived on the property.

Shortly before noon Wednesday, four friends of the victims stood by the side of the road near the eastern end of the bridge and talked about the incident and their memories of Porter.

One of the four, Bucksport resident Kevin Gray, said Porter was a “typical teen-age girl.”

Jayson LaPointe, also of Bucksport, said Porter had a lively personality. Her obituary said she enjoyed spending time with friends, listening to music and watching “The Three Stooges” with her dad.

“She was the wild one,” LaPointe said. “She always liked to make people laugh.”

Gray said the five young people in the pickup truck had been at a friend’s house in Bucksport shortly before the accident occurred.

According to Bucksport Middle School Principal Tom Jandreau, Porter had just finished her seventh-grade year at the school last Thursday. He said the sudden death of the girl hit the school community hard.

“Everybody is in shock about this whole situation,” Jandreau said. “Our thoughts go out to her family.”

Jandreau said that even though school is out for the summer, the school has taken steps to help Porter’s fellow pupils deal with their grief.

“We have contacted the entire staff to make them aware of things,” he said. He added that staff members and counselors will be at the school from noon to 2 p.m. today for any pupil who may want to talk about the incident.

Hope Porter is survived by her father, Chet Porter, and his fiancee, May Dion. Her mother, Elizabeth Porter, died in 1998.

Visitation for Hope Porter will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at Young Funeral Home, 31 W. Main St., Searsport. A graveside funeral is planned for 3:30 p.m. Friday at Maple Grove Cemetery, Prospect.