Police in Buxton are investigating whether two drivers were drag racing when their cars crashed Monday evening on Parker Farm Road, seriously injuring one driver and damaging both vehicles.
A 2003 Dodge Neon driven by 26-year-old Brandon Buzynski of Arundel and a 2005 Chrysler 300 driven by 56-year-old Thomas Dewitt of Buxton were both traveling east on Parker Farm Road immediately before the crash, according to police.
Dewitt was ahead of Buzynski, but apparently lost control, left the roadway and struck a guide wire support pole, said Buxton Police Chief Troy A. Cline.
The pole detached from the ground and went airborne, landed in the roadway and struck the hood of the Neon, Cline said.
Passersby reported the crash, and when rescue workers arrived they found Dewitt pinned inside his car.
The speed limit in that stretch of road is 40 miles per hour, he said. Witnesses reported that both cars were traveling at a high rate of speed, but police have not determined yet how fast they were going. Cline said Dewitt was rushed to Maine Medical Center and has undergone one surgery and has serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The Neon was found nearby on Fogg Road, police said.
In addition to Buzynski, the driver of the Neon, the car was carrying two passengers, 21-year-old Nathan Buzynski, and 27-year-old Shawn Andrews, both of Limington. No one in the car was injured.
Cline said an accident reconstruction has shown that speed and reckless driving may have contributed to the crash, but the investigation into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.
The Neon was owned by another person, Andrew Gagne, 27, of Biddeford, who was a friend of Buzynski, Cline said.
Cline said police are continuing to interview people who may have witnessed the crash or events that led up to it near the Rite Aid and Plummer’s Shop’n Save on Long Plains Road.
Although Cline declined to discuss the specifics of the ongoing investigation, he said someone found to have been drag racing on public roads could face charges of criminal speeding and driving to endanger.
Although most speeding citations are civil penalties, police can levy a criminal charge if a driver is 30 miles per hour over the speed limit. The offense is a class E misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, and loss of license. Driving to endanger carries similar penalties.
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