Crash in Plymouth kills 2; speed, alcohol cited

PLYMOUTH – Alcohol and speed apparently were the causes of a single-vehicle crash on Rutland Road that killed a 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man, both from Detroit, early Saturday morning.

“It was most definitely alcohol-involved,” Sgt. Keith Mercier of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday. “Speed was definitely a factor, too.”

The fatal crash is still under investigation. The Sheriff’s Department received a call at 3:01 a.m. Saturday that there was an accident. Once emergency crews arrived, they quickly assessed that the driver and the passenger of the beige 1995 Oldsmobile four-door sedan were mortally wounded.

Roth Hicks, 17, and Zachri Weaver, 20, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Hicks would have been a senior at Maine Central Institute in the fall. Weaver is originally from Florida but has been working in the area for the past year.

“The vehicle was traveling northbound on Rutland Road in Plymouth and had left the roadway, hit an embankment and went airborne, and snapped a [utility] pole,” the investigating officer said. “The car went well into the woods and was on its roof.”

The state Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the exact cause of death.

“It was not their car,” Mercier said. “They did know the owner of the car but we’re still checking into that.”

Grief counseling for community members and students will be held at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield. Anyone who needs to speak to a counselor may call school nurse Becky Geagan at 416-8435 or may call the school during normal business hours at 487-3355.