A Standish man has died from injuries he sustained in a three-vehicle crash that killed his 8-year-old son, police said Friday.
Vincent Oates, 51, died at Maine Medical Center on Thursday night, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said. His son, Owen Oates, died at the scene of the crash along Route 35 last Saturday.
The wreck occurred shortly after 9 a.m. when a car being driven southbound by Danilo Warrick, 75, skidded across the center line and struck a northbound Toyota Corolla driven by Vincent Oates, police said. Warrick is a custodian at two Standish schools, including the one where Owen was a third-grader.
Kerry Oates, 46, Vincent’s wife and Owen’s mother, also was injured in the crash and was taken to Maine Medical Center. The hospital had no information about her condition on Friday night. Warrick also was taken to Maine Medical and had been in satisfactory condition, but the hospital said it had no information about his condition Friday night.
Police continue to investigate the crash and will conduct a reconstruction to help determine the cause. A preliminary crash report suggested Warrick was “skidding.”
That description is one among several standardized responses that police use to describe how a crash occurred. The reconstruction will provide a more precise cause, but the investigation typically takes several weeks to complete.
The road conditions at the time of Saturday’s crash are unknown, but will likely be looked at by an accident reconstruction team, sheriff’s office Capt. Craig Smith said. Freezing rain that fell on Friday caused chaos on area roadways, but it was unclear whether icy conditions contributed to the fatal wreck a day later.
“This is certainly a sad day for the family and the community,” School Administrative District 6 Superintendent Paul Penna said in an email last Saturday.
Owen was a student at Edna Libby Elementary School in Standish and the district plans to provide support for staff, students and families, Penna said.
Warrick – known as “Mr. Dan” to students and staff – has been a custodian at Edna Libby for 26 years, and also worked at George E. Jack elementary school. The Edna Libby school’s Sunshine Committee launched an online fundraiser to support Warrick as he heals, and raised more than $4,000 to aid his medical costs.
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