PERU — Police say a local woman escaped serious injury Wednesday afternoon when a drunken driver from Lewiston broadsided her car on Route 108.
Michael N. Dubuc, 58, was arrested on a charge of operating under the influence, first offense, Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer said. Dubuc, the owner of Michael’s Pool n’ Patio in Lewiston, was driving a company van. He was booked at the Rumford police station and released on $600 unsecured bail. He will be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 3 in Rumford District Court.
Nicole Blodgett of Peru was picking up her daughter from day care when the accident occurred.
“Because this guy felt like getting drunk today, my daughter could have been left motherless,” Blodgett said at the accident scene before hugging her daughter, 8-year-old Gabrielle Provencher.
The accident happened at about 2:55 p.m. on a straightaway less than a mile south of the Greenwoods Road intersection.
Cayer said Blodgett was driving south in a 1992 Subaru SVX, followed by Dubuc in his 2009 Chevrolet Express van.
Blodgett, 26, said she used her left directional signal and slowed to less than 5 mph before turning into Amy Doughty’s private day care at Dale Dolloff’s home.
She said she didn’t immediately turn into the yard, making sure first there were no children or Doughty’s dog in the way.
Blodgett said that as she was crossing the opposite lane into the driveway, she turned her head left and saw Dubuc’s red van coming straight for her.
“I came to pull in and he just smashed me,” Blodgett said.
Her door window exploded as the door was shoved in, showering her face and body with glass.
“I could feel glass in my mouth,” Blodgett said. “There was glass everywhere and when I first got out, I had little shards of glass in my hands and my hands were all bloody.”
Cayer said Dubuc told him he didn’t see the Subaru’s blinker or brake lights.
Dubuc’s van veered into the yard; Blodgett’s car stopped a few yards from Route 108.
She said Dubuc got out and came to check on her.
“And he was like, ‘Are you OK?’ and I was like, ‘Do I look like I’m OK? I’m covered in glass right now,’” Blodgett said.
She said she shouldered the door open and got out and Dubuc told her to shut off her car engine.
“When I got out, he said, ‘You’ve got to shut the car off.’ Apparently, he thought the glass on me was gas,” Blodgett said.
While a Med-Care ambulance crew tended to Blodgett, Cayer did sobriety tests on Dubuc before handcuffing him and putting him in the cruiser.
Doughty said she’s tried unsuccessfully to get a sign placed along the road telling drivers to slow down because parents are stopping to pick up their children.
Cayer said Blodgett’s Subaru was demolished; he estimated damage to Dubuc’s van at $6,000.
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- Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer, right, shows driver Michael N. Dubuc, 58, of Lewiston how to walk heel to toe during sobriety tests on Route 108 in Peru on Wednesday. Dubuc’s 2009 Chevy Express van slammed into the driver’s-side door of the 1992 Subaru at left. Dubuc was charged with drunken driving.
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- Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer, left, talks with Michael N. Dubuc, 58, of Lewiston after Dubuc’s van struck the driver’s-side door of this 1992 Subaru on Route 108 in Peru on Wednesday.
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- Michael N. Dubuc, 58, of Lewiston, tries to follow the directions of Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer during a sobriety test Wednesday afternoon on Route 108 in Peru. Dubuc was involved in a two-vehicle accident and arrested on a charge of operating under the influence.
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- Michael N. Dubuc, 58, of Lewiston, tries to follow the directions of Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer during a field sobriety test Wednesday afternoon. Dubuc was involved in a two-vehicle accident on Route 108 in Peru.
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- Oxford County Deputy Sheriff George Cayer handcuffed driver Michael N. Dubuc, 58, of Lewiston, and arrested him on a drunken-driving charge after a crash on Route 108 in Peru on Wednesday.
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- A 2009 Chevy Express company van owned by Michael Dubuc of Lewiston sustained an estimated $6,000 damage in a collision Wednesday afternoon on Route 108 in Peru. Dubuc owns Michael’s Pool n’ Patio in Lewiston.
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