Jeep Smashes Into Amish Buggy In The Middle Of Town – Then Flees
Yet another hit-and-run on an Amish buggy. This one comes to us from Fort Fairfield, Maine and happened yesterday evening. The buggy was hit by the driver of a Jeep Wrangler – sending the buggy plowing into a pickup truck. More from Bangor Daily News:
An Amish buggy was rear-ended in a hit-and-run crash Wednesday evening in Fort Fairfield.
Mahlon Swartzentruber, 33, of Fort Fairfield and a 9-year-old passenger were traveling on Main Street in the horse-drawn buggy about 6:34 p.m. when a dark colored Jeep Wrangler hit them, according to Fort Fairfield Police Chief Matthew Cummings.
The collision sent Swartzentruber’s buggy crashing into a parked pickup truck, Cummings said Wednesday night.
The Jeep’s driver didn’t stop and fled east on Main Street.
Fort Fairfield area is home to a Swartzentruber Amish community and is one of four Amish locations in massive Aroostook County. Over 300 Amish people live in this location.
This is another noteworthy settlement for being very close to the Canada border – so close, that the settlement’s bishop has also served as the bishop for an Amish community just over the border in New Brunswick province.
The Amish generally don’t live “in town”, but frequently go to local towns to conduct business – shopping for groceries, banking, and so on. So buggies are nothing unusual to see passing through town, and nothing new for this area – home to an Amish settlement since 2007.
The culprit here is most likely a local person, as is typically the case in buggy wrecks. This is not a heavily-populated part of the country, and I expect the vehicle will be found sooner or later.
The driver should have stuck around, to take responsibility for whatever happened. It was just a couple weeks ago that an Amish teen was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Iowa.
Fortunately in this case, Mr. Swartzentruber and his young passenger only sustained only minor injuries that did not require hospitalization. In the photo you can see that the damage appears to be minor as well – with bent wheels and missing spokes on at least one of them:
Fortunately as well, the horse was not hurt in the incident.
Police seek the culprit
Local police are of course seeking the culprit. As to the vehicle description, I don’t see anything more detailed given than a “dark-colored Jeep Wrangler”. Chief Matthew E. Cummings does give further information at a post on the police department’s Facebook page:
The incident is currently under investigation, officers are checking cameras and would like anyone who witnessed the incident or with cameras facing the road on Main Street east of 300 Main Street to give us a call at 472-3808 to report what you witnessed or what you may have for video footage.
Please reference this incident and ask for Officer Daniel Varnum who is investigating. This incident occurred on a well lit area of Main Street. Thank you for your assistance.
The post in full:
Being a conservative Swartzentruber Amish community, these buggies can be significantly less well-lit and marked than buggies in other communities. Still, this comment at the PD’s post by a man named Kevin Scott makes two important points:
Even an unlit, unmarked, no-reflector black buggy is still visible under headlights by a driver paying attention. And there is NEVER an excuse for a hit-and-run.
So once again, if you have any info on this vehicle or what happened, you are requested to call the Fort Fairfield Police Department at 207-472-3808.
Maine Buggy Crash
[it had been a decent day. I until I read the above story] (sigh) . . . That’s literally all I can do. Just sigh . . . Oh, one more thing: When in God’s name are states going to pass tougher penalties and l-o-n-g-e-r jail sentences for these offenses?? Must admit, I sometimes wonder if I should just hit the “Unsubscribe” button and take a break from this site. Please forgive my bad mood everyone.
safety
Do not drive late afternoon or at dusk. It is NOT safe!
Amish buggy crash
Happy Thanksgiving KD. I hope your day is blessed.
Thank You . . .
Hi, Cheryl. Yes, my day did improve. Thank you for your concern for me. I guess I just ache every time I read a story about another senseless (and possibly preventable) accident that involves the Amish. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.
safety
Do not drive late afternoon or at dusk. It is NOT safe!
Horse Injurys
What happens to those nice horses?
They reported that the horse was not hurt, so that’s good news.
Erik l laugh at your language when you say yesterday evening. What’s wrong with saying last night.
6:34 P.M. (time of accident) falls under the time of “evening.” I personally would consider from 6-8:00 “evening.” After that would be considered “night.” Give or take a little.
If it were still summer and (here in the south) it doesn’t get dark until 9P.M. It would be silly to call 6 P.M. “night” with three more hours of daylight to go.
Happy Thanksgiving week to you.
I usually don’t think of 6:30-ish as “night”, even if it’s dark out. The word evening seems to fit best there. People might see it differently though.