Woman dies in shocking car accident

PALERMO – A Portland woman was killed on Route 3 Monday afternoon when she crashed her car into two vehicles and a boat parked in a driveway.

Anna K. Witham, 69, was killed instantly when she was partially ejected from her 2004 BMW during the spectacular crash.

Waldo County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Robert Keating said Witham was traveling east toward Belfast at approximately 2:50 p.m. when for some reason she crossed the centerline and drove off the road. Her car traveled 165 feet off the road before hitting the bank of a driveway leading to the residence of Paul and Linda Loder, which is between the Palermo School and Tobey’s Store.

The driveway bank served as a ramp and launched Witham’s vehicle into the air, where it traveled 26 feet before landing on the roof of a 1996 Volkswagen parked in the driveway. The car bounced from the Volkswagen into the front of a Boston Whaler parked on its trailer, then landed on the roof of a 1992 GMC pickup truck parked next to it. Tire marks were left on the roofs of both vehicles. The BMW then hit a power pole 15 feet from the ground and snapped it in half before finally coming to rest on its side. The front and rear air bags deployed, but Witham was partially ejected from her car.

“We don’t know what caused her to leave the road,” Keating said. “There were no brake marks. She just drove off the road.”

Sgt. Ben Seekins, Deputy Dan Thompson and state Trooper Elisha Fowlie took part in the investigation. All of the vehicles were totaled.