ELLSWORTH, ME : Driver pulled alive from Union River after truck crashes into the water on Thursday, 1st September 2016

A local man was hospitalized Thursday after he apparently suffered a medical issue while driving and crashed his truck into the Union River at Harbor Park.

Police said Charles H. Stratton, 61, of Ellsworth, was traveling down Washington Street just after 2 p.m. Thursday when the unspecified medical event occurred and he lost control of his 2011 Chevrolet pickup truck.

The truck “sped down Washington Street at a high rate of speed,” and video from the Harbormaster’s Building at Harbor Park showed that it narrowly missed striking another truck when it crossed Water Street.

From there Stratton’s truck continued into Harbor Park toward the river, striking a support post for one park sign and then sideswiping a tree and another sign before “launching into the air and crashing into the harbor alongside the public boat launch” area.

Lt. Harold Page of the Ellsworth Police Department said Officer Chad Wilmot, who is trained in crash reconstruction, estimated that Stratton hit a “minimum speed of 82” mph before crashing into the water.The truck ended up completely submerged in the water.Harbormaster Adam Wilson and Jack Carlin, a bystander from Surry, rushed over and went into the river to help free Stratton from his vehicle.“They put themselves in harm’s way without regard to their own safety,” said Police Chief Pete Bickmore of Wilson and Carlin.

Stratton was removed from the vehicle and taken by County Ambulance to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital for treatment. Police said his injuries included bleeding from his head.

Bickmore noted that given the popularity and frequent usage of the Harbor Park area — it recently hosted both of Maine’s U.S. senators for a ribbon-cutting event at the adjacent business incubator, for example — it is amazing that no one else was injured in the incident.

“It could have been horrible,” he said. “It could have been a humungous tragedy.”

Police, fire and ambulance personnel all responded to the scene Thursday afternoon.

Source :
Driver pulled alive from Union River after truck crashes into the water