Morning Sentinel
SKOWHEGAN: Teen recovers after being hit by car after high school football game
BY DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 10/07/2008

SKOWHEGAN -- Police on Monday said a darkened street light on school grounds and pedestrian inattention were contributing factors in a car accident that sent a 14-year-old girl to the hospital Friday night after a high school football game.

Eliza Li of Summer Street, in Skowhegan, was struck by a car driven by Joseph LaBrie Jr. of Norridgewock at about 9:15 p.m., Skowhegan Deputy Police Chief Rick Bonneau said.

Neither speed nor alcohol was a factor in the accident and no charges are expected, Bonneau said.

He said Li was listed in satisfactory condition by hospital officials in Bangor on Saturday.

"The pedestrian is listed as emerging from behind a parked car -- the reason it's considered a parked car is that vehicles were stopped at the intersection and she walked between two vehicles and into the path of an oncoming vehicle," he said. "He had no time to respond."

Low lighting from a broken street light also was a contributing factor, he said.

Li was flown from Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Police officer Herb Oliver was told by hospital officials that the girl's injuries were not life-threatening, police say.

"As of Saturday night she was eating and everything and her prognosis was good," Bonneau said.

A spokeswoman at the hospital on Monday said there was no information on her condition.

Bonneau said Li also was wearing dark clothing, which made her hard to see. She apparently was walking from a grassy area to one side of the road that leads to the high school when she was struck.

LaBrie was entering school grounds at the time, Bonneau said.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534 ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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