South Berwick man nabbed in ATV hit-n-run at Lebanon campground

Franklin Mann (Alfred County Jail photo)

EAST LEBANON, Maine - A South Berwick man has been charged in connection with the hit and run at 4 X 4 Proving Grounds in Lebanon on Saturday night.

Franklin Mann, 47, was charged with aggravated assault and OUI resulting in injury. Officials at Troop A in Alfred also said on Tuesday he will be indicted on charges of leaving the scene of an accident with injury and reckless conduct.

The victim, a 29-year-old woman from Sanford, was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland for serious injuries, Lebanon Fire Chief Steven Merrill told The Rochester Voice.

Franklin's bail was initially set at $25,000, but reduced to $2,000 at his arraignment, York County Jail officials said on Tuesday.

The incident, first reported in The Rochester Voice on Sunday, unfolded around 11 p.m. on Saturday as several troopers out of Troop A responded to the Proving Grounds for a report of an ATV crashing into a pedestrian and fleeing the scene.

Troopers gathered information from multiple witnesses that had witnessed the crash, and the subject was later found walking down a dirt path at the 4X4 campground.

Upon questioning, Mann denied having any knowledge of the crash, and denied owning an ATV. The suspect appeared to have injuries that were very recent, police said, and he had dirt marks on his clothing that were indicative of sliding across the ground. It was soon learned that Mann was in fact the registered owner of the ATV involved in the crash.

Witnesses confirmed Mann was the operator of the ATV that fled the scene.

The Proving Grounds was in the throes of its first major weekend event of the summer.

4X4 Proving Grounds owner Kurt Zeller said the incident marred what had been a very successful weekend.