Columbia man killed in rollover

STEUBEN – A 29-year-old Columbia man rushing his fiancee to the hospital in a driving rain Sunday night was killed in a single-car crash on U.S. Route 1.

Maine State Police reported that Santos Rodriguez died instantly in the crash, which left three others injured.

Taken to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth were Stephanie Mejia, 26, the driver’s fiancee who had not been feeling well, and two of her family members. Charlotte Leighton, 49, and Scott Leighton, 19, are Mejia’s mother and brother.

All four in the car were wearing seat belts, Trooper Barry Curtis said.

“It’s just one of those things,” said Curtis, who handled the accident through the night in a constant rain. “He was trying to do something good, and it ended up tragic.”

Rodriguez, believed to be a native of Honduras, was speeding when he lost control of the 2004 Pontiac Grand Am he was driving. The vehicle overturned several times before coming to rest on its roof.

The car had been a loaner to Rodriguez while his own car was being repaired.

The accident occurred around 11:50 p.m. within sight of the Steuben Fire Department.

Members of the Fire Department brought hydraulic equipment needed to free Mejia and Scott Leighton from the wreck.

The Cherryfield ambulance took the injured to the hospital. Both the Petit Manan ambulance from Milbridge and the County ambulance from Ellsworth answered the call.

Curtis was unable to estimate the car’s speed because no skid marks were left on the wet pavement.