By Nok-Noi Hauger
Bangor Daily News
A Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department van carrying a juvenile to court ran off the road in a snowdrift Monday morning, striking a tree head-on and sending two transport officers to the hospital with serious injuries.
Chief Deputy Troy Morton said Monday afternoon that corrections officer Rosemary Kosobud was driving the 2003 GMC van and was accompanied by Kevin Priest, another corrections transport officer for the Sheriff’s Department.
“Both correction officers were transported to the hospital, both in serious condition,” Morton said. He said he did not have specifics about their injuries.
Kosobud was listed in critical condition Monday evening and Priest’s condition had been upgraded to fair, the nursing supervisor at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor said.
The juvenile also was evaluated at EMMC. He was uninjured, and Bangor police took custody of the juvenile after the accident until Sheriff’s Department personnel could pick him up.
Kosobud works part-time for the Sheriff’s Department and has worked for the agency for around 20 years. Priest, a full-time corrections officer, has worked for the department for about 10 years, Morton said.
The 9 a.m. crash occurred near the Glenburn line and destroyed the van. Bangor Public Works crews plowed and sanded the road, which was not closed, after emergency responders left, Morton said.
Bangor Police Department’s accident reconstruction team investigated the incident and determined that the snowdrift caused the incident, he said.
Copyright 2007 Bangor Daily News