A Clinton man was driving drunk and disoriented when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 95 in Pittsfield Sunday night, crashing head-on into another car and leaving its driver in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Tristan Kaldenberg, 19, of Littleton, Massachusetts, was flown by a LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor after sustaining life-threatening injuries from the crash, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. The crash was reported about 6:48 p.m. Sunday. Kaldenberg crashed head-on into Hugh Brawn, 70, of Clinton, who was driving a white truck the wrong way down the interstate, McCausland said.
Kaldenberg is a student at Husson University and was returning to Bangor when the crash took place.
Eric Gordon, a spokesman for Husson, said later Monday that Kaldenberg is a first-year student pursuing a bachelor of science in health sciences. Gordon said the university was aware Kaldenberg was in intensive care and recovering.
“We wish him a speedy recovery,” Gordon said.
Kaldenberg was still listed in critical condition at the hospital on Monday, according to the hospital’s media relations office.
A news release Monday evening from Maine State Police said Brawn was intoxicated and disoriented at the time, although “no charges have been lodged, as troopers continue to monitor the conditions of both men and determine why Brawn was in the wrong lane.”
Brawn was also taken to EMMC by Delta Ambulance with life-threatening injuries and was listed in critical condition Sunday evening. A spokeswoman for the hospital said Monday morning there was no information available on Brawn, but police said later Monday that Brawn underwent hip surgery at the Bangor hospital and his condition has improved as he recuperates there.
Kaldenberg, though, has extensive internal injuries, police said. The release said there “was little Kaldenberg could do to avoid the collision with Brawn’s pickup as the crash took place at the top of a slight rise on the northbound side and Kaldenberg had only seconds to react.”
Police from the town of Pittsfield and the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office as well as Maine State Police assisted at the scene.
Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
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