AUBURN — Washington Street northbound lanes were closed for several hours Friday after a propane truck flipped near the American Legion hall turnaround.
The driver of a car involved in the wreck fled on foot but later turned himself in.
According to Auburn Sgt. Gary Boulet, a Champagne Gas and Oil truck carrying propane was traveling in the left lane near the turnaround when it was cut off by a car that moved from the right lane toward the turnaround.
According to witnesses, the propane truck drove up over the front of the car and rolled over. The car ended up in the trees to the left of the road and, according to police, the driver got out and fled into the woods.
Police used tracking dogs to search for the driver, who was spotted running south. Police said 49-year-old John McKinney Jr., of Auburn, later turned himself in at the Auburn police station. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, driving to endanger and driving without a license.
The driver of the propane truck, Mario Veilleux, 46, of Biddeford, was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston with nonlife-threatening head injuries. He was later released.
Champagne Gas and Oil, based in Arundel, asked police to arrange for a local company to offload the propane from the truck before it was righted.
According to Deputy Chief Jason Moen of the Auburn Police Department, no propane is believed to have leaked from the truck, but the road was closed for several hours while the truck was emptied and moved. Traffic had been detoured off Washington Street onto Miami Street, just south of the wreck. The road was reopened around noon.
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- A traffic detour plan has been implemented for Washington St Northbound traffic.
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