A Damariscotta woman faces a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident in connection with a hit-and-run in Damariscotta Feb. 12.
Jean L. Harris, 81, was not aware of the collision, Damariscotta Patrol Officer Jason Warlick said.
“At the time, she thought she had run something over in the road and had no idea she had been struck by another car,” Warlick said.
Harris called the Damariscotta Police Department Feb. 25 and admitted her involvement in the accident, Warlick said.
The charge against Harris is a Class E misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Harris has no previous traffic violations, Warlick said.
Aisha E. Hixon, 25, of Richmond, was driving a 2008 Dodge Caliber north on Route 1 at approximately 4:30 p.m. Feb. 12.
Harris, also driving a 2008 Dodge Caliber, was traveling west on Belvedere Road and attempted to cross Route 1, pulling out in front of Hixon.
Hixon’s vehicle hit Harris’ vehicle. Hixon was not hurt, but her vehicle sustained “substantial driver’s side front damage,” Warlick said at the time.
Harris allegedly left the scene and continued west on Belvedere Road, toward the Nobleboro town line.
Harris described the impact in a phone interview.
“I never, ever, ever saw a car, and I heard a single bang at the back of my car,” she said.
She stopped, but did not see Hixon’s vehicle in the area, she said. She did notice minor damage to the rear driver’s side of her vehicle.
“It doesn’t look as though a car hit my car,” Harris said. “It looks as though something big came up underneath it.”
“My car sounded okay, so I figured I could drive home,” she said. She lives a short distance from the accident scene.
Later, she read an article about a hit-and-run in The Lincoln County News.
“I called and said it must have been me, but it didn’t sound like a car and I never, ever, ever saw a car,” she said.
