Linneus woman gets rude awakening

Photo courtesy of MSP
STRIKES HOME — This SUV slammed into the home of Vera Kervin of Linneus Jan. 4.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    LINNEUS — Vera Kervin of Linneus had a rude awakening last Wednesday afternoon when she was abruptly stirred from her daily nap by the sound of an explosion.
    “At first, I thought an airplane must have crashed into the house,” Kervin said Thursday afternoon. “It was very scary. The whole house just shook. Everything fell off the dresser and walls.”
    Something did in fact hit her Bangor Road home, but it wasn’t an airplane. Instead, it was a vehicle being driven by Brian King, 55, of Ludlow.
    According to Sgt. Brian Harris of the Maine State Police, King was driving on the Bangor Road at 12:15 p.m. when he reportedly lost control of his 2007 Dodge Durango. The vehicle spun around in the road, causing the back end of his SUV to plow into Kervin’s bedroom. The impact ripped a large hole in the side of the house and caused a significant amount of damage.
    King was able to dislodge the vehicle and allegedly fled the scene, police said.
    Kervin said she ordinarily takes a nap after lunch in the bed located directly in front of the window where the vehicle struck.
    “There are two beds in the room, a double and twin,” she said. “The twin was up against the window and that is where I normally take my nap. But that day, my cat was lying asleep on the bed and she just looked so comfortable that I didn’t want to disturb her.”
    A large potted plant was positioned above the window. That plant crashed onto the bed when the vehicle struck.
    “If I had been sleeping there, that plant would have come down and hit me right in the head,” she said.
    Kervin said her cat was not injured, but was extremely frightened.
    “For a couple of hours afterwards, she would not let me put her down, she was so frightened,” she said.
    Trooper Carman Lilley responded to incident. Lilley, with the assistance of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Dept., Houlton Police Department and the U.S. Border Patrol, searched the surrounding area in an attempt to locate the hit-and-run vehicle. A short time after the accident, Houlton police located the offending vehicle parked behind a local business.
    Lilley and Sgt. Harris were later able to locate King at his residence and after speaking to him, King was arrested for failure to report an accident by quickest means and operating under the influence of alcohol.
    King’s vehicle was totaled, while damage to Kervin’s house was estimated at $10,000.