Two pedestrians hurt in separate accidents in Auburn Friday morning

Bystanders and police talk at the corner of Pleasant Street and Court Street in Auburn Friday morning as police pack up after investigating the scene of a car-pedestrian collision earlier in the morning. The woman struck by two cars was in critical condition at a Portland hospital. Russ Dillingham/Sun journal AUBURN -- A 55-year-old Lewiston woman suffered life-threatening injuries Friday morning after she was struck by two separate vehicles while crossing Court Street.

Police said that at about 6:30 a.m., Cindy Neff was crossing Court Street, near Pleasant Street, when she was struck by a Toyota Rav 4 driven by Mackendy Thenor of Lewiston, who had been headed westbound. Police said the impact knocked Neff into the second westbound lane where she was struck by a second vehicle, a 2009 Lexus sedan driven by Annette Dumont, 60, of Greene. As both vehicle stopped in the roadway following the collision, a Dodge pickup truck, driven by 53-year-old Raymond Henry of Lewiston, slammed into the back of the Rav 4.

Neff was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston with serious injuries, police said. She was later moved to Maine Medical Center in Portland where she was listed in critical but stable condition later Friday. Auburn police reconstructed the crash site.

"The preliminary investigation, which includes witness statements made to police, indicates that Neff ran into traffic, not utilizing a crosswalk," police wrote in a press release.

As they were investigating that wreck at about 8:15 a.m., police were called to a second pedestrian crash, this one on Hampshire Street near the intersection of Troy Street. In that crash, police said 63-year-old Mark Sharp of Auburn was crossing Hampshire Street at a marked crosswalk in an electric wheelchair. As he crossed, Sharp was struck by a vehicle driven by Amber Degen, 34, of Auburn, police said.

Sharp was taken to Central Maine Medical Center with what were described as serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. Degen was summoned for failure to yield for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Both crashes remain under investigation.