An officer of the law was charged with operating under the influence after driving on the wrong side of the highway and hitting a semi truck head-on.
It happened on Saturday, July 1st at around 2:30 a.m. on Route 1 in Damariscotta, Maine.
According to Bangor Daily News, Marine Patrol Officer Brandon Bezio began driving north on the southbound side of Route 1 very early on Saturday morning. Bezio drove his Toyota Tacoma the wrong direction for about a quarter mile before colliding head-on with a 2014 Volvo semi truck near Midcoast Road.
Edgar Garcia, the driver of the tractor trailer, tried to avoid Bezio but was unsuccessful.
A female passenger was thrown from Bezio’s pickup and sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries to her lower body.
A passenger in the semi truck was in the sleeper cab at the time of the accident and was taken to a nearby hospital to evaluate lower back pain caused by the accident.
Neither Bezio nor Garcia were injured in the crash.
Route 1 was closed on both sides until 6:30 a.m. and was down to one lane until 8:21 a.m. when all lanes were reopened.
26-year-old Bezio has been charged with operating under the influence, a Class D Misdemeanor and is scheduled for a court appearance on August 31st at the Lincoln County Courthouse.
Bezio is a member of the Maine Marine Patrol, the “oldest law enforcement organization in the state of Maine” dedicated to patrolling and protecting the coastal areas of the state.
The tractor trailer, owned by Maine Paper and Food out of Conklin, N.Y., is being inspected by officials in order to reconstruct the crash. Once the reconstruction is completed, law enforcement will hand the case over to the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office.
Bezio was off-duty at the time of the accident, but “Marine Patrol will be conducting an internal investigation,” says Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols.
Bezio had just received the 2017 Maine Patrol Officer of the Year award in March.
