WINTHROP — A crash on U.S. Route 202 shortly before noon on Wednesday left a Mechanic Falls man dead and three others injured, police said.
Connor King, 24, was killed in the crash, which happened as a snowstorm swept across the region. He had been a passenger in a black Dodge pickup truck driven by his father, Donald King, 51, also of Mechanic Falls.
A news release sent Wednesday afternoon by Winthrop police Sgt. John Hall said the elder King “was westbound on Route 202 when the vehicle lost control and skidded into the oncoming lane.”
It struck an eastbound white 2011 Dodge flatbed wrecker driven by Alfred Parks, 65, of Readfield.
“Parks was unable to avoid the on-coming vehicle and the two collided,” according to the release. “The Dodge pickup truck was rolled onto its side by the force of the collision.”
The elder King, Alfred Parks and Parks’ passenger, Thelma Parks, 70, also of Readfield, were all taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta.
Donald King has been the athletic director at Poland Regional High School for 10 years. Cari Medd, principal of the school, sent out a memo late Wednesday afternoon advising King’s colleagues that he was in stable condition at the hospital. Reports were that King was conscious and alert as he was airlifted by a LifeFlight helicopter.
Connor King graduated from Poland Regional High School and then went on to study and play baseball at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, in Standish. In 2016, Connor spent a season coaching the PRHS softball team.
“Don King is one of the most honorable men I know,” Medd said Wednesday night. “His dedication to his family and to the Poland Regional High School community is unmatched. His son Connor was wonderful young man, well liked by all of us here at the high school, and had such a promising future. The loss for Don; his wife, Shirley; and Connor’s sister, Carly, is unimaginable for all of us here.”
The accident occurred between Route 135 and Winthrop Veterinary Hospital, and it shut down U.S. Route 202 for four hours, Hall said.
Winthrop police, firefighters and Winthrop Ambulance went to the scene, as did Monmouth police, Maine State Police, the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office and Augusta Rescue.
Winthrop police continue to investigate, and Maine State Police reconstructed the scene.
Hall said that section of U.S. 202 has been the site of a number of serious accidents, including another fatal crash two years ago.
The roads had been covered in snow since early morning as a storm moved through the region.
Sun Journal staff writer Mark Laflamme contributed to this report.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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