A Gardiner man was issued a summons Tuesday after driving his truck the wrong way on Interstate 95 in Augusta for several miles, prompting another vehicle to swerve out of the way and hit a guardrail, police said.
Alden Glidden, 77, of Gardiner, drove south onto the northbound interstate lanes at exit 113, and police were notified of the wrong-way driver at 1:08 p.m., according to Maine State Police Trooper Travis Luce.
Just over a minute later, a crash was reported north of exit 112 as the result of a driver trying to evade the oncoming wrong-way vehicle.
Luce said Arthur Brake, 67, of Kittery, was driving north in the passing lane when he saw a red pickup truck headed straight for him. Brake swerved right, crossing the driving and breakdown lanes before striking the guardrail.
Brake was not injured and his vehicle sustained some damage on the side, but it was drivable, Luce said.
Glidden continued south on the highway, eventually finding a crossover to continue on in southbound lane before being stopped around mile 108, Luce said.
“He was confused about what was going on,” Luce said. “He thought the vehicles were going very fast.”
Glidden was summoned on a charge of unauthorized use of a divided highway, Luce said. While it’s not clear how Glidden got on the highway, Luce said he thought Glidden might have turned onto the northbound offramp from the eastern rotary at that interchange.
He said the charge resulted from Glidden using the crossover between highway lanes, which is reserved for authorized vehicles only.
In all, four troopers were involved in tracking down the wrong-way driver.
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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