Bradford man, 18, charged with drunken driving

A Bradford man wanted on three warrants and driving with a suspended license was taken into custody early Thursday morning after Bangor police stopped him for erratic driving.

Bangor police Officer Wade Betters reported that beginning about 2:30 a.m., a car driven by Daniel Pray, 18, crossed the center line a couple of times on Finson Road and Betters stopped it. Pray admitted to drinking two beers earlier and was unsteady on his feet, according to the police report. He swayed during field sobriety tests, Betters said.

As well as being wanted on three warrants, Pray’s license was under suspension and Betters later found it in the car, along with several empty beer cans and an unopened one. The license plate on the car belonged on another vehicle. Pray’s blood alcohol content registered 0.17 percent, or more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, according to the police report.

Pray was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants and operating a motor vehicle after license suspension.

A Winn man drove through a red light at the intersection of Cold Brook Road and Route 202 Thursday afternoon, striking another vehicle that then struck a utility pole, disabling traffic lights at the intersection for several hours. Both drivers were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center but subsequently released.

Chad Faulkner, 21, of Winn was turning left onto Cold Brook Road from the northbound lane of Route 202 shortly after 4 p.m. and he told police he didn’t see the red light. At the same time, Carla Palmer, 53, of Hampden was heading east on Cold Brook Road and had stopped at the intersection before proceeding through the intersection, reported Hampden police Officer Ken Lawson.

The impact at the intersection sent Faulkner’s car into the utility pole that operates the traffic lights, causing the lights to go out for several hours. Hampden police officers directed traffic as did Jim Ryan, a Maine State Police dispatch supervisor who stopped to lend a hand, Lawson said.

Two dogs inside Palmer’s car were picked up by a good Samaritan and taken to Palmer’s home, even before Lawson arrived on scene. Lawson estimated the damage to Palmer’s 1997 Volvo station wagon and Faulkner’s 1998 Chevrolet Lumina at $10,000 or more each. Faulkner was issued a citation for failure to stop for a red light.

Bad blood was being suggested as the reason for a confrontation between two men outside Dunkin’ Donuts on Main Street in Bangor late Wednesday night. According to witnesses, Shawn A. Woodbury, 24, of Bangor grabbed an Ellsworth man by the throat and began yelling at him. The alleged victim managed to release Woodbury’s grip on his throat. Bangor police Officer Kevin MacLaren said Woodbury claimed he only had words with the Ellsworth man and nothing else. And a woman who had left Dunkin’ Donuts with Woodbury and claimed to be a relative of the alleged victim also said that only words were exchanged.

Two other people, however, had seen Woodbury grab the man by the throat and MacLaren noted that the man had red marks on his neck. MacLaren summoned Woodbury on a charge of assault.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli