I-95 crash causes injures

    SHERMAN — On Friday, Maine State Police troopers and other emergency personnel responded to a motor vehicle crash that occurred in Sherman on the northbound side of Interstate 95 that closed the Interstate for several hours.
    Gary Johnson, 27, of Houlton was traveling northbound on the Interstate in a 1999 Peterbilt truck owned by Foster Farms of Littleton around 1 p.m. A Maine Department of Transportation work crew was on the northbound travel lane of the Interstate performing maintenance to the roadway.  
    As Johnson traveled northbound, he did not see the MDOT crew and struck a MDOT dump truck being operated by Maitland Stevens, 59, of Island Falls, which was parked behind the work crew as protection.  Johnson’s truck struck the rear of the MDOT dump truck and the protective cushion mounted to the rear of the MDOT truck. After colliding with the MDOT truck, Johnson’s truck then struck the guardrail and Johnson was trapped in the cab of the truck as a result of the extensive damage.  
    Johnson was extricated from the cab of his truck with the Jaws of Life by the Island Falls Fire Department and was then transported to Houlton Regional Hospital by Patten Ambulance for non-life threatening injuries. Stevens was transported to Millinocket Regional Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.  
    Johnson’s truck was demolished in the accident and the MDOT dump truck sustained extensive damage.  Both Johnson and Stevens were wearing their seatbelts. The crash remains under investigation.  
    Trooper Carmen Lilley of the Maine State Police is investigating the incident. He was assisted at the scene by troopers Brian Harris and Chad Fuller of the Maine State Police, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Dept, U.S Border Patrol, Island Falls and Sherman fire departments, MDOT and Patten Ambulance.