N.J. motorcyclist hurt in collision in Levant

LEVANT – A New Jersey man was taken to the hospital Friday after crashing his motorcycle into a turning vehicle in Levant.

Philip Easton, 42, of Madison, N.J., was cresting a steep hill around 3:45 p.m. near 139 Stetson Road as a car was turning across the lane into a driveway, according to the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department.

“The bike put on his brakes, but there wasn’t time to stop,” Deputy Sean McCue said Friday. “Speed was the primary factor in the accident.”

Easton was wearing a helmet, McCue said. Easton was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where a nursing supervisor reported at about 10 p.m. that he was in fair condition.

The driver of the car, Neal Bryson, 59, of Pittsfield, was not taken to the hospital, but the front of his car was badly damaged, the windshield was smashed, and the air bags deployed.

Easton’s motorcycle also was damaged.