Maine State Police suspect that a Clinton man was intoxicated and disoriented when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 95 in Pittsfield Sunday night, crashing head-on into another car and leaving its driver in critical condition at a Bangor hospital.
Tristan Kaldenberg, 19, of Littleton, Massachusetts, was flown by a LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center after suffering life-threatening injuries from the crash, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. The crash was reported about 6:48 p.m. Sunday. Kaldenberg’s car collided head-on with a white truck driven Hugh Brawn, 70, of Clinton, who was traveling the wrong way on the interstate, McCausland said.
Kaldenberg is a student at Husson University and was returning to Bangor when the crash took place.
Eric Gordon, a spokesman for Husson, said Kaldenberg is a first-year student pursuing a bachelor of science in health sciences. Gordon said the university was aware Kaldenberg was in intensive care and recovering.
“We wish him a speedy recovery,” Gordon said.
Kaldenberg was still listed in critical condition at the hospital on Monday, according to the hospital’s media relations office.
McCausland said in a news release late Monday afternoon that state police suspect that Brawn was intoxicated and disoriented at the time of the crash, although “no charges have been lodged, as troopers continue to monitor the conditions of both men and determine why Brawn was in the wrong lane.”
Brawn was also taken to EMMC. He underwent hip surgery Sunday night and his condition has improved as he recuperates there, McCausland said. Brawn was listed in stable condition late Monday night.
Kaldenberg, though, has extensive internal injuries, McCausland said.
He said there “was little Kaldenberg could do to avoid the collision with Brawn’s pickup as the crash took place at the top of a slight rise on the northbound side and Kaldenberg had only seconds to react.”
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