Slippery highways cause dozens of accidents

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Winterlike conditions made roads around central, northern and coastal Maine slippery Monday and likely was the cause of more than 60 accidents reported by 10:30 p.m.

Of the accidents, only a few minor injuries and two arrests were reported.

Clyde Worster, 58, a transient, was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle after the revocation of his license as a habitual offender, said Trooper Seth Edwards of the Maine State Police. Worster drove around a Glenburn Fire Department roadblock as officials were dealing with two cars that slid off the road on Union Street.

Edwards caught up to Worster as he was driving a 1989 Oldsmobile sedan out of a convenience store parking lot in Levant, Edwards said. A Hermon family later reported that the car was stolen.

Worster had been staying in their woodshed, and he had taken the car without permission.

They did not press charges.

Worster remained at Penobscot County Jail in Bangor Monday night and will likely appear in 3rd District Court in Bangor today.

Additionally, a Howland man was charged with driving with a suspended license after he lost control of his pickup truck and got stuck on the median while driving on Interstate 95.

Timothy Weiss, 35, told police he had been driving his 1999 four-wheel drive Dodge north on the highway when slippery road conditions caused him to lose control near the Pushaw Stream Bridge and swerve into the median, Old Town police Sgt. Chris Hashey said.

Weiss was trying to drive the truck out of the median and onto the southbound lane when he got stuck. He was summoned for driving with a suspended license and will appear in 3rd District Court in Bangor on Dec. 2.

The Maine State Police in Orono, serving Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Washington counties, handled at least 27 accidents, said dispatcher Adrian Marquis.

Maine State Police in Houlton reported six accidents, said dispatcher Sally Michaud.

The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department responded to more than 20 accidents, said dispatcher Chip Briggs.

Piscataquis County had more than 10 accidents, according to dispatcher Doug Roberts.

Washington County Sheriff’s Department handled its first accident of the day at 10:30 p.m. when a car slid of the road, causing minor damage, said dispatcher Adam Davis.

A Hudson teen faces a slew of charges after crashing his car into the woods in Corinth and leaving the scene of the accident Sunday night.

Joseph Hendren, 19, was charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, failure to report an accident by the quickest means possible, illegal attachment of plates, and he was ticketed for driving an uninsured and uninspected vehicle.

Hendren will appear in 3rd District Court in Bangor on Dec. 4, said Trooper Seth Edwards.

Police responded to an accident in which a 1991 Ford Tempo sedan was found in the woods at the end of the Covered Bridge Road in Corinth.

Police attempted to find the owner by the car’s license plates, but found that they belonged to another vehicle, Edwards said. The car had not been registered for several years.

Police later received a report that a male had been assaulted in Hudson and needed treatment for a wrist injury. When officials arrived, the man, later found to be Hendren, had actually been in a car accident and had run into the woods to avoid authorities, Edwards said. Police searched for Hendren, but eventually gave up.

Hendren contacted police Monday morning and admitted he had been driving drunk and failed to stop for a stop sign at the end of the Covered Bridge Road, drove across the Black Road and crashed into the woods, the trooper said. Hendren suffered minor injuries. The car was a total loss.

Staff workers for the Tim Richardson for sheriff campaign were upset to find that a number of their signs had been broken or stolen in Brewer, said Brewer police Sgt. Perry Antone.

A full assessment of the damage was not available, though one 15-square-foot sign valued at $30 was broken.

The vandalism was under investigation Monday night.

Brewer police had no leads Monday night after a Brewer man reported that someone had stolen his satellite receiver unit from his home.

The 30-year-old man living on Deer Run Court reported the burglary just after 2 p.m. Monday, Brewer police Sgt. Perry Antone said. Officer Rich Smith found no sign of forced entry. The unit was valued at more than $49.

The burglary was still under investigation Monday night.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Derek Breton