Maine State Police seek driver in I-95 construction-zone crash that injured worker

Maine State Police are asking for help identifying the driver of a light-colored pickup truck that struck a barrier and a construction barrel in a northbound work zone on Interstate 95 in Pittsfield, injuring a construction worker.

The crash occurred near mile marker 150 at about 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 14, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Police said the pickup was hauling a black dump trailer when it hit a concrete Jersey barrier along the right side of the roadway and an orange construction barrel. The work area had been reduced to a single lane.

The barrel was thrown into 56-year-old Richard Smart of Westfield, police said. Smart works for Northeast Construction and was part of a crew unloading Jersey barriers when he was struck.

Smart was taken to Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital with what police described as serious but non-life-threatening injuries. He has since been released.

Investigators believe the driver was a man who knew he had been involved in the collision. The truck continued north after the crash, police said. Witnesses reported seeing the driver turn the vehicle around during the incident and then speed away.

Maine State Police released a photograph of the suspected vehicle on Tuesday as they searched for the operator.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information about the pickup, its driver or its location is asked to contact the Bangor Regional Communications Center at 207-973-3700, extension 9, and ask for Trooper Klayton Peckham.