Author Stephen King Hit by Van, Seriously Hurt

Horror author Stephen King was seriously injured when he was struck by a van while walking near his home Saturday, police said.

King was walking south on the shoulder of Route 5 in North Lovell, where he owns a home, about 4:30 p.m. EDT when a motorist approaching from behind swerved because a dog that was loose inside his Dodge Caravan, Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Baker said.

Officials at Central Maine Medical Center said that King, 51, was in serious but stable condition. King suffered “significant” injuries, including broken bones, but was conscious and alert, hospital spokesman Laird Covey said.

King was first taken to Northern Cumberland Memorial Hospital in Bridgton but was then flown to Lewiston for treatment at Central Maine Medical’s trauma ward.

According to witnesses, the driver, Bryan Smith, 41, did not appear to be speeding, Baker said. Charges will not be filed against Smith, he said.

Baker said he found King lying in a depression about 14 feet off the road, where he appeared to have been thrown by the collision. The van’s windshield was broken, and its right front corner was crunched in, he said.

“He was hurting, but he was able to communicate,” Baker said. “He was talking to me. He gave me phone numbers of where to call his family.

“He was in a lot of pain.” Baker said he could tell that King’s leg was broken and he was bleeding from a cut on his head.

Baker said he didn’t know where King was going.

“I see him all the time, walking. It’s just like anybody going out for a walk in the evening,” Baker said.

King, whose primary residence is in Bangor, has written more than two dozen novels, including “The Shining,” “Carrie,” “Firestarter,” “Christine” and “Pet Sematary.” Several of his books have been made into movies. King’s latest novel, “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,” is on several bestseller lists this weekend.

King was an English teacher at Hampden Academy, a public high school in Hampden, Maine, from 1971 to 1973. He was also a writer in residence at the University of Maine at Orono.