Houlton man dies in two-car crash

HOULTON – A two-car accident Monday killed a Houlton man and injured four other people.

The accident took place shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Bangor Street, police said.

Ray Hipps Jr., 52, was dead at the scene as a result of internal trauma, police said.

Hipps was a passenger in a car driven by Joseph Murphy, 48, of Houlton.

Murphy was traveling west on Bangor Street when his 1998 Buick sedan went off the right side of the road. The car skidded out of control, crossed the centerline and wound up in the path of a Pontiac sedan driven by Heidi Hall, 32, of Hodgdon.

Hall was traveling east, and she and her passenger, Wayne Morley Jr., 7, of Hodgdon, received minor injuries.

Hall and Morley were taken by Houlton ambulance to Houlton Regional Hospital and treated for their injuries.

Murphy and another passenger, Jeanne Sawyer, 79, of Houlton, also were taken to Houlton Regional Hospital. The driver suffered minor injuries, while Sawyer was treated for head injuries.

The status of the patients was not available Tuesday.

Road and weather conditions were listed as preliminary factors in the accident. Roads were slick after the area received more than 3 inches of snow Monday.

Houlton police Cpl. Dana Duff was investigating. Officer Daniel Norton and Detective Staff Sgt. James Skehan assisted at the scene, along with the Houlton Fire Department.