Roof removed to free man in moose crash

MATTAMISCONTIS – An East Millinocket man was flown to a Bangor hospital Friday for treatment of injuries he suffered when the vehicle he was in struck a 900-pound cow moose on Interstate 95.

Ra Romano, 37, was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center after Howland firefighters extricated him from the wreckage by cutting the roof off a Nissan Pathfinder driven by Michelle Bond-Williams, 34, also of East Millinocket, according to Maine State Police Trooper Barry Meserve.

Romano was being evaluated at the hospital late Friday, Meserve said. He said it did not appear Romano’s injuries, which included bleeding from his head, were life-threatening. Bond-Williams escaped injury, Meserve said.

According to Meserve, Bond-Williams was traveling north on I-95 when she encountered the moose in the road near mile marker 224 south of the Lincoln exit. She tried to stop but was unable, Meserve said.

After it was struck, the moose landed on the hood and then crashed through the windshield, mostly on the passenger side of the vehicle, he said. The moose died.

Meserve said both were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, which demolished the Pathfinder.