LEWISTON — A local woman escaped serious injury Friday when her car drifted off Webster Street and sideswiped an MG Midget before crashing over a stone culvert, stopping nose-first in a stream.

Police were attempting to determine why Bethany Curtis, 46, drove off the road at about 6:45 p.m.

Witnesses said the car, a Toyota Corolla, was headed out Webster Street, toward Alfred Plourde Parkway, when it left the road and clipped the MG, which had been parked on a lawn for sale.

Dave Gagne was at the edge of his lawn looking over a hole that needs to be filled when Curtis drove past him and then left the roadway.

“She just drifted over,” Gagne said. “She never touched the brakes at all.”

After smashing the front of the MG, the car continued on between a traffic sign and a stand of trees. The front end hit a culvert and crashed down into the stream, coming to rest on its side.

Gagne went to the woman’s aid as rescue crews were on their way.

“I went and got some towels for her,” he said. “She was all banged up.”

Curtis appeared to have suffered facial injuries but was able to walk on her own once firefighters pulled her from the overturned car. She was examined by paramedics at the scene as police investigated and a tow-truck driver tried to reason how to remove the car.

Curtis was roughly a mile from her Webster Street home when she crashed, police said.

The front end of the MG, a 1977 model, was heavily damaged in the wreck. It had been put up for sale and placed on the lawn at the start of the week, owner Zachary Thompson said. He was hoping insurance would cover the damage.

“If this had happened back when I first got the car,” the 22-year-old said, “I would probably be weeping.”

The crash was being investigated by Lewiston police officer Tyler Michaud.

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