An Ellsworth man who was involved in two crashes and then acted erratically after getting out of his vehicle died Wednesday morning in Hancock after being hit by a truck, according to police.
Kevin Minnie, 54, was run over by a dump truck shortly before 7 a.m. on Route 1, police said. The chain of events shut down Route 1 between routes 182 and 200 for more than two hours.
Police said Minnie was speeding west on Route 1 in a Dodge Ram pickup truck at about 6:45 a.m. when he rear-ended another pickup truck, causing that vehicle to roll over and leave the road. He then continued driving west for a short distance before going in the opposite lane and striking the rear passenger side of a second vehicle on Route 1 in front of Tideway Market.
Minnie then got out of his vehicle and began striking and jumping on other vehicles that stopped at the scene, police said. He then ran toward the passenger rear tire of an approaching dump truck and was hit by the truck and died.
“Investigators believe Minnie was experiencing a mental health crisis that contributed to his behavior,” said Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for Maine State Police.
The driver of the first vehicle Minnie struck while he was driving was taken to the hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, Moss said. The driver of the second vehicle he struck was not injured.
While police and other first responders dealt with the crash scene, traffic on Route 1 was detoured onto routes 182 and 200 through Franklin. The road reopened to traffic in both directions at around 9:45 a.m.
