LEWISTON — Police said excessive speed appeared to be a factor in a single-car crash on Ferry Road just before midnight Thursday that claimed the life of a 22-year-old man.

Police said Dakota Paige of Lewiston was ejected from his 2002 Chevy Cavalier and came to rest in a nearby yard after losing control of the vehicle and skidding into a patch of trees in front of 313 Ferry Road.

He was dead when emergency crews arrived, police said. 

The crash occurred on a section of Ferry Road a few hundred feet beyond Cotton Road. It appeared the driver had been heading toward River Road when he lost control, skidding off the roadway and into a patch of trees separating two houses.

Preliminary findings from an ongoing investigation indicate excessive speed contributed to the crash, Lt. David St. Pierre wrote in a statement released Friday.

“At this time it is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor though there were no outward signs indicating such,” he wrote. “Results of blood tests and/or toxicology have not yet been obtained.”

A man who lives in one of the homes, Charles Large, said he heard a thud that shook his house at about 11:45 p.m. When he went outside to investigate, he saw no sign of the crash.

The car had come to rest overturned in the shadows beneath a patch of trees. The victim, thrown from the vehicle, came to rest in the yard. The first witnesses on the scene reported the man was not breathing.

When police, fire and rescue crews arrived, the man was dead. Police searched the area but found no other victims. It was believed the man had been driving alone when he crashed.

Skid marks could be seen on the pavement where the car had skidded off Ferry Road. Police were blocking off a section off Ferry Road as they prepared to reconstruct the crash site.

The roadway appeared dry near the crash scene, although it was strewn with fallen leaves. There was no immediate indication of what caused the driver to lose control of the car.