Bar Harbor man indicted in fatal MDI crash

ELLSWORTH – A Bar Harbor man who was behind the wheel last summer when he crashed his car and killed a teenage passenger was indicted Wednesday on charges of manslaughter.

Noah Mohr, 23, reportedly had been drinking in August of last year when the car he was driving on Route 102 in Bar Harbor crossed the road and struck a patch of trees. The impact split the 1995 Chevrolet Caprice into two pieces and the part of the car containing the engine caught fire, according to police.

Blaine Alley, 17, of Bar Harbor was in the passenger seat and suffered extensive injuries. He was airlifted to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he died two days later from his injuries.

Mohr and an unidentified juvenile male who was in the back seat during the crash were not injured.

Speed also was a factor in the accident, but police have not released how fast Mohr was driving.

Mohr’s license was suspended in February for three years after police determined that his blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit when the crash occurred.

Until Wednesday, though, he didn’t face criminal charges.

“It took awhile to get the accident report done; there wasn’t a rush to get this case to the grand jury,” Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich said Wednesday, adding, “Alcohol combined with high speed is usually enough evidence for a grand jury to move forward.”

Mohr, who has no known prior record, faces a charge of Class A manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. He also faces lesser charges of operating while under the influence and reckless conduct, both Class C felonies.

The three young men involved in the accident were friends, Povich said, and the accident occurred not far from Alley’s home in the village of Town Hill in Bar Harbor.