Three perish in deadly day on Maine ATV trails

AUGUSTA, Maine - Three men were killed in separate Maine ATV crashes on Saturday.

In The Forks, a 32-year-old Readfield man died when he lost control and flipped his ATV.

Joshua Violette was the fifth ATV traveling in a group of nine ATVs on the Divide Road in the Forks when he hit a depression in the road, lost control and flipped his 2007 Polaris Sportsman 500 ATV around 10 a.m. Violette died at the scene. His passenger, 33-year-old Ashlie Dostie of Mt. Vernon suffered nonlife threatening injuries and was transported to Reddington Fairview Hospital in Skowhegan. Neither Violette nor Dostie were wearing helmets.

Just a little while later in Anson, a 69-year-old Freedom man was killed when he was thrown from the ATV he was riding on a trail in Solon.

Roland Robitaille was second in a line of seven ATVs riding on a trail behind the Solon Road in Anson at approximately 10:40 a.m. when he went over a bridge on the trail, lost control of his 2017 Yamaha Grizzly ATV, rolled, and was thrown off the ATV.

Robitaille, who was not wearing a helmet, was found face down in the trail by the by the ATVs following in his group, with severe trauma to his head and chest. His group called 911, and performed CPR until rescue personnel arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Later around 5:30 p.m. in Lang Township, Tyler Curry, 29, of Groton, Mass., was riding alone on a private access road after leaving the group he had been riding with earlier in the day. Just prior to crossing a bridge, Curry exited a left turn and his ATV began sliding toward the edge of the road at a high rate of speed, and he straddled the outside edge of the bridge before he slid off the bridge and into the river.

It appears that Curry was thrown from the ATV as he fell. Curry was not wearing a helmet. Two men who came to fish the river discovered the body and called 911 at 6:20 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency service personnel due to injuries sustained in the crash.

Speed appears to be a factor in the crash, and the Maine Warden Service continues to investigate.

The Maine Warden Service Reminds all ATV riders to:

• Always Wear Your Helmet
• Always Ride Under Control
• Always Ride Sober
• Stay On Marked Trails