Snowbank crash ends with OUI

Bangor police arrested a 19-year-old woman early Tuesday morning for operating under the influence of intoxicants after watching her drive her car into a snowbank.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., Officer Shawn Green began to follow the car after it twice failed to use a turn signal. The car then turned suddenly from Hammond Street onto 13th Street and struck a pile of snow on the opposite side of the road near Fairmount School, according to a police report.

The driver, Nicole Bureau, initially told Green that she did not have anything to drink. After observing several empty beer cans – and one full can – in her car, Bureau admitted to having “two beers.” She also failed a field sobriety test.

Bureau was arrested for OUI. Several minutes later at the police station, her blood alcohol level was tested at 0.11, well above the legal limit for a driver under the age of 21.

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An accident early Tuesday morning left two vehicles with $9,000 in combined damage and the two drivers with minor injuries.

Karole Emery, 20, of Bangor was crossing Mount Hope Avenue from Maple Street shortly before 9:30 a.m. when her car was struck by a van registered to Brookings-Smith Funeral Home in Bangor.

Emery told police that the van’s driver, Benjamin Hanscom, 30, of Brewer, was speeding. Hanscom said Emery just pulled out in front of him.

Emery’s 2004 Mitsubishi sedan had $6,000 in damages. Police estimated that the van, a 2003 Chevrolet, had $3,000 in damages.

Hanscom complained of injuries to his legs while Emery suffered back pain as a result of the accident; however, neither was transported to a hospital.

The incident remains under investigation.

– Compiled by BDN reporter Eric Russell