DECD Commissoner's Son in Hit-and-Run ATV Accident

Hoping for a speedy recovery

Poor kid. Rough way to begin summer vacation.

This is awful. And unfortunately it happens more than we know because the papers choose which stories to cover.
My husband's aunt was killed leaving Mass one Sunday night in Portland several years ago by a hit-and-run driver. Her friend who was accompanying her (crossing in the crosswalk legally) was not killed.
Not much mention of it in the papers other than the police report. The driver was located a few days later and evidence on his car proved his guilt. The family chose not to press charges.

Henry,
Where is your source? I would like to read the article or press release please. Also Matthew Gifford is on the sex offender registry. Another fine example if the civilized world.

Also it was in Lakeville just South of Springfield not Lakeview.

I think Henry Clay may be Steve McCausland. He gets his info before anyone else.

Steven Scharf
SCSMedia@aol.com

Steven - you're not seriously trying to out an anonymous AMG'er, are you?

Please tell me that's not what you just did.

I was joking.

If he was Steve, he would not have published his camp phone # on another thread.

Steven Scharf
SCSMedia@aol.com

Thank you for the clarification.

For all those who are new to posting on AMG, outting someone who posts anonymously is grounds for a permanent ban from the site, with no possibility of parole. Scott doesn't even like folks to publicly speculate on someone else's identity if they choose to be anonymous on AMG.

Thank you.

5. Permitting an unaccompanied person under 16 years of age to operate an ATV. Except as provided in subsection 6, a person may not permit an unaccompanied person 10 years of age or older but under 16 years of age to operate an ATV.

6. Exceptions for certain property. This section does not apply to the operation of an ATV on:

A. The land on which the operator is domiciled;
B. Land owned or leased by the operator’s parent or guardian; or
C. A safety training site approved by the department.

Rules

I hope the kid makes a speedy and full recovery.

But he should not have been riding alone.

Unless Grampy's camp and/or the road to it is owned by John Richardson?

It would then be legal, but still not wise.

Will any reporter ask the Commissioner about whether his son's ride was legal?

Thankfully, the nanny state has not yet criminalized all conduct which is not wise. But.... do I understand that a constituent may be requesting a bill to amend the ATV laws next session? :)

Kids need nannys.

Or responsible parents.

Dan - I think that you and I would very likely agree on the definition of a responsible parent, perhaps short of ideological indoctrination of the child. But would you want the state to define the responsible parent for you?

I don't have any problem with the state setting rules for the operation of motor vehicles.

And by the way, if the Commissioner owned the camp, I doubt it would be identified in the press as the grandfather's camp.

Dan - nice shift from responsible parenting to operation of motor vehicles.

I haven't seen anything in the press yet, have you?

Part of the reason that we have rules regarding the operation of ATVs by kids is a lack of responsible parenting.

I assumed the first post was a press report. I now see it was some kind of State Police release.

If the Commissioner owned the camp, I doubt it would be identified by law enforcement as the grandfather's camp.

I don't see that it was a State Police release. Was it?

It is either a release or a press report.

If the child had died as a result of his injuries and being left by the despicable cretins who hit him, would we perhaps then think he shouldn't have been riding alone?

As Dan said, unfortunately, laws are the equivalent of parenting for those who haven't a clue how to do so.

Just like zoning is the hardscape equivalent of Do Unto Others, since some seem incapable of that, either.

I agree with Dan. It would seem to me that as a public figure one has to go to the extreme to abide by the laws and rules of the state. However, that is not what I see here in good old Maine. It seems that there are two sets of rules, those for the ordinary hardworking overtaxed pheasantry and another set for the elite blue liberals.

It is also apparent that many ATV riders bend the rules constantly. I see them tearing done many taods without registration plates or riding down the middle of RR tracks at very high rates of speed. If the rules for ATV's was stricltly adhered to most would not spend that kind of money for what little places they could legally ride on.

Ah yes, here we go again with the ATV bashing. :( The point of this particular case is that the kid was injured, someone knew about it, and they walked away. It doesn't matter if he was walking down the road and twisted his ankle...the point is that he had contact with someone who could have helped him but didn't and that's just bogus. :( I hope he's going to be okay and finds it in his heart to realize not everyone out there is a dinkhole.

If the kid had not been riding alone -- apparently in violation of ATV rules -- there would have been someone there to help him when he was hurt other the scum that hit and ran.

Apparently this was not his first leaving the scene of an accident. Note, the first article appears to be part of a police log and the title refers to the first story in the log.

After reportedly crashing his vehicle twice in half a mile, the driver of a blue Subaru in Lincoln was summoned for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident.

Tuesday evening a witness saw a vehicle hit a light pole on Main Street and called the Lincoln Police Department. When the officer arrived he found the light pole snapped off at the base and lying on the sidewalk.

The vehicle was found in a snowbank on East Broadway, along with the driver, Matthew Gifford, 42, of Mattawamkeag, and a passenger. Gifford lost control of the vehicle because a tire had slid off its rim when he hit the light post.

Gifford was summoned.

He sure does not like to face the music.

BANGOR -- A convicted sex offender who escaped from the Penobscot County Courthouse last week was back in court Friday under tight security.

Matthew Gifford pleaded guilty to escape and admitted a probation violation before Justice Margaret Kravchuk Friday morning.

Gifford fled the courthouse Friday, June 5, after Kravchuk ordered him held in jail without bail pending a hearing on allegations that he had violated his probation by having contact with a child under the age of 18. He gave himself up two days later and has been held at Penobscot County Jail ever since.

Both of these citations are from MARVEL do not allow linking to stories.

Steven Scharf
SCSMedia@aol.com

I bet he's out again by Monday night.

I sincerely hope not.

Dan, isn't there something the DA can do to put this guy away? Does he have to kill somebody first?

He won't necessarily be "put away" if he kills someone via hit and run.

I would expect him to be released on bail after making his initial appearance. So he is likely already out.

He will likely get jail time for this. How much depends upon what other charges they can make and his prior record.

I hope that they beat the crap out of that dirtbag before they dropped him off at the jailhouse.