Cat blamed for crash

Lewiston police officer Jane Huffman searches a vehicle for a stray cat that caused a crash on Pond Road in Lewiston at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning. According to Huffman, the driver, Penny L. Lessard, 48, of Lewiston, was distracted while feeding the cat in the back seat and went off the road, hitting a utility pole. Lessard had just picked up the stray cat from her father.



The cat jumped out of the car and could not be located. Damage to Lessard's 1997 Ford four-door was estimated at $4,500; to the telephone pole she hit that was owned by Central Maine Power Co., $5,000. No charges had been filed against the Lewiston woman as of Tuesday night, although the Lewiston Police Department confirmed that had the accident happened a week later, she could have been charged under a new state law set to take effect Sept. 12 that will charge drivers who get into accidents because of distractions.