PALERMO – A local man was taken to a Lewiston hospital by emergency helicopter after his car was struck broadside on Route 3 Saturday morning.

Robert Theberge, 49, was taken to Central Maine Medical Center after he was removed from his 1995 Saturn by an hydraulic cutting device after the 10:07 a.m. accident. The Waldo County Sheriff’s Department described his injuries as severe.

Theberge was apparently in the process of making a U-turn when he pulled directly into the path of a 2005 Volvo operated by Paul Kelly, 38, of Wynnewood, Pa.

Upon impact, both vehicles continued down the highway and over an embankment before they came to rest in a grove of trees.

Kelly was uninjured. An adult female riding with him was treated for minor injuries at the scene. Two minor children riding in the Kelly vehicle were uninjured.

An adult female who was riding with Theberge was not injured.

Everyone involved in the accident was wearing seat belts or restrained in safety seats.

Fire and rescue crews from Palermo, Weeks Mills, South China, Delta Ambulance and LifeFlight assisted at the scene.

Waldo County deputies and Maine state troopers also responded to the scene.

Route 3 was shut down for several hours as LifeFlight had to use the highway as a landing zone.

Accident reconstruction experts were called in to map and document the scene.

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

338-9546