It wasn’t the weather but a driver who stormed through the city that apparently knocked out the power to a large swath of central Burlington on Wednesday morning.
The city’s police department reports that Carson Montgomery Mayes of Graham triggered these outages when he struck a utility pole along the 600 block of South Mebane Street shortly before 6:30 a.m.
According to the police department, the 22-year-old white male was barreling down Mebane Street at “a high rate of speed” when his 2007 BMW collided with a Chevy SUV driven by Brittany Lynn Bridges. Mayes’ vehicle then tore through the utility pole, which was literally severed in half, causing the power to go out along portions of Mebane, Church, and Fisher streets as well as Webb Avenue.
The police department notes that Bridges emerged unscathed from the accident, although her vehicle sustained some $8,000 in damage, while the damage to Mayes’ BMW has been estimated at $15,000. Mayes allegedly fled the scene after this crash and was still at large when the police department issued a news release about the accident later that morning.
According to the police department, Mayes is wanted for careless and reckless driving, hit-and-run, and driving with a revoked license. Police urge anyone who knows the whereabouts of the Graham resident to contact the department at 336-229-3500 or call Crime Stoppers at 336-229-7100 to leave an anonymous tip.
