The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Westbrook man on Friday after he allegedly crashed into an occupied school bus while driving drunk, and fled from deputies.
[RELATED: Federal Report Reveals Tragic Circumstances Surrounding Fatal Standish School-Bus Crash…]
At approximately 7:32 p.m., Cumberland deputies responded to reports of a 2001 maroon GMC Sierra driving erratically.
The caller reported that the truck was leaving the road and almost striking multiple vehicles.
During the police response, the truck allegedly sideswiped an occupied school bus after forcing it off the road and continued on.
The driver then allegedly struck a telephone pole on Chadbourne Road in Standish, forcing authorities to close the road temporarily, but still continued on.
Deputies located the vehicle as it was driving away from the crash, but the driver allegedly refused to stop.
He eventually came to a stop after driving about half a mile from law enforcement when he struck multiple mailboxes.
Deputies arrested the driver, Frank Fournier, 59, of Westbrook, and transported him to the Cumberland County Jail.
He was booked on charges of operating under the influence, driving to endanger, reckless conduct with a motor vehicle, three counts of leaving the scene of a crash, failure to stop for law enforcement, and refusing to submit to arrest.
The school bus Fournier allegedly struck was from the Lake Region School District and was occupied by 20 students and three adults.
None of the bus’s occupants were injured.
