Maine Maritime Academy student dies in car crash

CASTINE – Speed and alcohol were factors in the crash in which Brett Gould of Benedicta died Sunday night, according to Sgt. Alden Bustard of the Maine State Police. Two other 18-year-old men escaped serious injury in the accident.

The three were heading back to Castine from the Bangor area at about 9 p.m. when the accident occurred, Bustard said. Gould, a student at Maine Maritime Academy, was driving and had crested the hill near the golf course when he lost control of his 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier on the sharp right-hand curve where Route 166 turns into Battle Avenue. The car crossed the road, flipped over and came to rest on its roof in a ditch.

Gould was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. He was killed instantly.

The two passengers, also MMA students, were Brandon McAvoy of Benedicta and Eric Ravasz of Lamont, Ill. McAvoy, who also was not wearing a seat belt, received facial injuries and was treated at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital and later released. Ravasz, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured in the accident.

Sgt. Bart Tokas of the Ellsworth Police Department reconstructed the accident, but Sgt. Bustard said they had not established how fast Gould was traveling at the time of the accident.

Campus flags flew at half-staff at Maine Maritime Academy on Monday and students on campus were subdued, according to Capt. Jeff Loustaunau, the vice president for enrollment management and commandant of midshipmen.

“It’s a pretty somber place around here,” Loustaunau said.

Gould was a freshman at MMA majoring in marine engineering operations. He was a member of the regiment of midshipmen and, with other freshmen, had gone through the regimental preparatory training at the start of the school year. All three students involved in the accident were living on board the college’s training ship.

“All of us are affected by this,” Loustaunau said. “But [freshmen] go through a lot together and that gets the kids very close. They’re much more affected as a group.”

Loustaunau said he anticipates the college will arrange a memorial service, but officials will wait to discuss any arrangements with family members.

“All of our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” he said.

Gould’s death was the third highway death in Maine during the weekend, according to the state police. A 36-year-old woman died in a one-car crash in Casco early Saturday morning, and a 16-year-old girl was killed in Canaan on Saturday when her car was struck by a van after it had sideswiped a school bus.