A woman headed to a church event Saturday in Hampden may have hit the gas pedal rather than the brake while in the church driveway, causing her car to become airborne briefly over a small stream.

Hampden police Officer Ben Eyles said the four-door Buick came to rest on the far side of a stream on the lawn of the West Hampden Baptist Church, just off Western Avenue, U.S. Route 202.

When officers arrived after the 5:37 p.m. call, they found the driver, Catherine Duprey, 81, of Hampden, inside the church. She complained of neck pain and was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor.

Eyles said the quarter-mile-long church driveway includes a small bridge just after a slight curve. Duprey apparently accelerated rather than slowed at the curve, causing her car to leave the right side of the driveway and jump the stream just shy of the bridge.

Most of the $2,000 in estimated damage was to the car.

Officer John Peterson and Sgt. Scott Webber participated in the investigation.

Augusta police arrested a Bangor woman who turned herself in Thursday a few hours after the robbery of an Augusta bank.

Detective Sgt. Jared Mills said police believe Joselynn Albert, 24, walked into the Gardiner Savings Institution Bank on Eastern Avenue around 11 a.m. Thursday and handed the teller a note demanding money. Mills said she never showed a weapon. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money, then Albert left the bank and drove away.

A witness gave police the license plate number of the car and police reviewed security tapes. Investigators identified Albert quickly.

“We had a phone conversation later on with her and she turned herself in” three or four hours after the robbery, Mills said.

Albert was taken to Kennebec County Jail and went before a judge Friday morning. She is charged with robbery. (Nick McCrea, BDN)

Two cars were waiting to turn left off Irish Road onto Route 2 in Carmel around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday when a white 2007 pickup driven by Leroy Ouelette, age and hometown not reported, slammed into the rear end of the second car, a 1993 Dodge sedan.

The driver of the first car heard the squealing tires and moved out of the way, but the forward momentum of the pickup striking the sedan sent both of those vehicles onto Route 2 into the path of an oncoming Pontiac Grand Am driven by a 17-year-old Carmel male, causing a second crash.

The driver of the Dodge sedan, Marie Ames, age not reported, of Carmel, and her 14-year-old son were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for minor injuries and later released. No other injuries were reported. All three vehicles were severely damaged, Deputy Roy Peary of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department said. (Nok-Noi Hauger, BDN)

A man was charged with aggravated operating under the influence, operating without a license and aggravated criminal mischief after allegedly causing a two-car accident at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on State Street in Brewer.

Police said Lloyd Blanchard, 39, of Brewer had a blood alcohol level “well over double the legal limit” when he attempted to make an unsafe left turn in his 1999 GMC pickup truck onto Somerset Street, causing a 1990 Chevy pickup truck to crash into him.

The crash sent Blanchard’s truck into a fire hydrant, which moved about eight inches, police said.

No injuries were reported by Blanchard or the two Brewer men in the Chevy truck.

The hydrant won’t be usable until the street is dug up and the large pipe below the hydrant is repaired, police said.

“It should be noted that he had a conditional license from a previous OUI, with a zero tolerance policy for alcohol,” police reported. “He went beyond the scope of his license.”

Police estimated damage to Blanchard’s truck at $8,000 and to the Chevy truck at $2,000. (Chelsey Ledue, BDN)