Sonnet Myers, the driver of the Jeep, said vehicles she and her mother were driving on Tuesday were struck by a 2000 BMW as they were parking by the Bill and Joan Alfond Main Street Commons. The impact on her car caused Myers’ foot to slip off the brake and propelled the car into the Waterville building. Photo by Sonnet Myers
WATERVILLE — The woman who was driving the vehicle that was pushed into the entrance of the Colby College downtown residence hall on Tuesday said she was meeting her mother for dinner when both of them were involved in the accident.
Sonnet Myers, 22, of Troy, said on Friday she was parking in the slanted spots by the Bill and Joan Alfond Main Street Commons and across the street from Portland Pie when her mother’s vehicle was struck first and then hers.
Sgt. Kyle McDonald of the Waterville Police Department said on Tuesday that a 2000 BMW was being driven at a high speed through downtown when it hit a 2020 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, operated by Deanne Harrison, and a 2005 Jeep Wrangler, operated by Myers.
Jose Paul Rodriguez, 44, of Waterville was arrested and charged with driving to endanger.
Myers said her mother “was pulling in on the left-hand side, then he hit her and then slammed into me. My foot slipped off of the brake, and I went through the lamp post and into the building.”
Myers was taken to the hospital by Delta ambulance.
She said she is recovering from injuries that were not life-threatening.
She has a possible fracture in her spine, she said, but is seeing another doctor to confirm the injury. Her mother was not injured, just sore after the crash.
Myers was able to bring the vehicle to a stop before any serious damage was done to the building, but had little to no time to react.
The minivan had damage to the fender on the driver’s side and her Jeep “held up pretty well,” with bumps, scratches, dents and a cracked windshield, she said.
On Friday, Waterville police could not confirm the speed at which the car that struck Myers’ and her mother’s cars was traveling or if the driver was weaving through traffic on Main Street just before the crash, as Myers alleged.
The speed limit through downtown is 25 mph.
“I didn’t get anyone’s names, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone that came and helped,” Myers said. “There were so many that came to my aid.”
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