Teen talking on cell crashes into phone pole

HAMPDEN – Driver inattention is believed to have caused a local teenager to run into a telephone pole at about 11:30 a.m. Friday when he was driving home from school, according to police.

The 17-year-old male, whose name wasn’t released, was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident, Hampden police Sgt. Dan Stewart said.

The teen was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for treatment of unspecified injuries. Stewart said they were not life threatening.

The Pontiac the teen was driving is registered to James and Barbara VanUden of Hampden.

“He lost control of the vehicle and hit a pole,” Stewart said. The pole snapped and the transformer on it caught on fire and blew up, he added.

“They have to replace the pole and the transformer,” Stewart said.

Approximately 2,300 customers lost power for less than 30 minutes, Bangor-Hydro Electric Co. spokeswoman Susan Faloon said. About four or five people were without power for a longer period of time, and Faloon said at 4 p.m. she was unsure whether their electricity had been turned back on.

The Bangor Hydro hazardous material team was called in to remove the soil where contents of the transformer had leaked onto the ground.

Traffic continued to be reduced to one lane past 2:30 p.m. while crews worked to fix the pole and the electric and cable lines attached to it.

“It’s a prime example of why talking on the phone and driving is not a good idea,” Stewart said.