Houlton man drives car up metal pole, arrested for OUI

HOULTON – A local man remained in the Aroostook County Jail on Friday following an alleged drunken joy ride that ended when he drove up the side of a metal pole and had to be rescued from his teetering car.

Richard Carmichael, 23, of Houlton was arrested early Thursday morning on a bail violation of consuming alcohol, Officer D.J. Norton of the Houlton Police Department said Thursday night.

Norton said Carmichael also was charged with operating while under the influence and operating after license suspension.

Carmichael was driving a 1996 Buick Regal on Maliseet Drive at 2:47 a.m. on Thursday just before the single-car accident. Norton said that within a 500-foot-stretch, Carmichael went off the side of the road, crossed over three lawns, jumped a little stream, and ended up back on the road.

He then crossed the centerline and hit a 6-foot-high metal pole, which was standing next to a fire hydrant on the side of the road.

But instead of stopping, Norton said that Carmichael’s car continued up the pole, which bent with the car’s weight. When the front of Carmichael’s car reached the end of the pole, the car stopped and leaned to the ground on its passenger side.

With the driver’s side of the car up in the air, Norton said that Carmichael couldn’t get out of the vehicle.

“It was so unstable that if he tried to get out, it would have fallen over on its roof,” Norton said. “The Fire Department had to cut the windshield out to get him out.”

Carmichael suffered minor cuts and bruises on his face and hands. He declined treatment at the scene, but went to Houlton Regional Hospital to be treated for his minor injuries.

He told police he was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Norton said that Cpl. Dana Duff of the Houlton Police Department, as well as members of the Houlton Fire and Ambulance Service, assisted him at the scene.

Carmichael is expected to face the charges on July 3 in Houlton District Court.