A 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl are hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a single-vehicle crash early Monday in Whiting, Maine.

State Police say that just after midnight, a pickup truck driven by 20-year-old Braden Pottle of Lubec crashed head-on into a tree on the Halls Mills Road. A Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy came across the crash site.

Others in the vehicle were 28-year-old Michael Locke of Machias, 18-year-old Mackenzie Preston, of Machias, and a 16-year-old girl from Roque Bluffs, Maine.

Pottle and the girl were sitting in the front seat and were both transported by ambulance to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with life-threatening injuries, according to Katharine England, spokesperson for the Maine State Police.  At last report, police say the two were in stable condition.

Police said the two passengers in the back seat were injured as well, but didn't say to what extent. None of the four people in the truck was wearing a seat belt. State police later reported that speed and alcohol were factors in the crash and charges are pending.

While on the ground in East Machias, a Life Flight helicopter rotor was damaged when it was struck by a slow moving ambulance, officials say. The helicopter was taken out of service until it can be repaired and another was dispatched to transport one of the patients.

Members of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police, Machias Ambulance and Whiting Fire Department worked at the scene of the crash. Corporal Jeff Taylor and Sergeant Jeff Ingemi of Troop J led the investigation.

 

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