Cops Say Maine Man On The Run Struck By Truck Trying To Cross Turnpike

Thanks to the diligence of a trucker from West Virginia, police say an Ellsworth man, who was injured when he tried to evade police by crossing a busy Maine highway, got the help that he needed.

It all happened around 8:30 on the evening of Sunday, September 28th, near mile marker 32, in Biddeford.

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68-year-old Michael Kilmer, a trucker out of West Virginia, was traveling Northbound along the Maine Turnpike when he thought he had hit a deer that was trying to cross the road. After watching back the video recorded by his in-truck camera, he realized that what he thought was a deer was actually a person.

Kilmer immediately called the police. Then the Portland Police reached out to the Maine State Police for assistance in narrowing down the area along the turnpike where they believed the incident took place.

"Troopers located the male, identified as Jared Felling, 39, of Ellsworth, seriously injured, in the tall marshy area just before the exit. Felling suffered serious injuries to his legs and head and was in the early stages of hypothermia. Troopers provided aid until Kennebunk Fire Rescue arrived, and transported Felling to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where his injuries, though serious, were considered non-life-threatening."

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After looking into the matter of why Felling was allegedly running across the Turnpike, authorities discovered that he was running from Biddeford Police officers and tried to lose them by crossing the busy highway on foot.

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Police say Felling had been ordered by a court in Ellsworth to wear an ankle monitor, which he allegedly removed just before taking off. According to authorities, Felling has a pretty lengthy wrap sheet and was just picked up for vehicle theft in the Biddeford area.

The Waldo County Sheriff’s Office also had a warrant out for Felling for violating the conditions of his release.