A New Harbor man pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a fatal collision he caused on New Year’s Eve 2021 while driving under the influence of alcohol with a 6-year-old boy in the back seat.
Robert Campbell, now 41, pleaded to one count each of manslaughter, a Class A felony; operating under the influence of alcohol — death, a Class B felony; and endangering the welfare of a child, a Class D misdemeanor, in the crash that killed 69-year-old Karen McCubbin. A fourth charge of OUI — injury was dismissed.
Campbell had been driving south on Route 130 with the child in the back seat around 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2021, when he crossed the centerline and struck McCubbin’s Toyota Corolla head-on, according to an affidavit from Deputy Jeffrey Rogers, of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
McCubbin’s car rolled over and came to rest upside down off the roadway, and Campbell’s pickup also continued off the road, court documents said. McCubbin died at the scene.
McCubbin was a physical therapist in Lincoln County for more than 30 years and had two daughters, according to her obituary.
Campbell and the child were transported to LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus in Damariscotta with injuries not considered life-threatening.
A witness later told Rogers that he saw Campbell’s pickup driving “erratically” and had to swerve into the other lane to avoid being hit head-on, then watched in the rearview mirror as he went into the oncoming lane again, hitting McCubbin’s car, which then flipped.
A detective from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office reconstructed the crash as part of his investigation, which was consistent with the witness’s report, according to the affidavit.
Campbell was wearing a seatbelt and airbags deployed. McCubbin was not wearing a seatbelt, the sheriff’s office said at the time.
Campbell told an officer he had consumed three 16-ounce cans of Budweiser beer in the five hours before the crash. One open can was found in the car. Campbell’s blood alcohol level was tested at 0.183 grams per 100 milliliter, over the legal limit of 0.08, according to court documents.
A sentence hearing for Campbell is scheduled for Sept. 13 at the West Bath District Courthouse.
This story appears through a media partnership with The Lincoln County News.
