Brad Johnson, seated, appears Tuesday in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn where he pleaded guilty to charges related to a hit-and-run crash in 2019. Johnson’s attorney, Verne Paradie of Lewiston, is standing next to him. Christopher Williams/Sun Journal

AUBURN — A Lewiston man was given a largely suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to a 2019 hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a pedestrian on Lisbon Street.

Brad Johnson Lewiston Police Department photo

Brad Johnson, 43, appeared in Androscoggin County Superior Court where a judge approved a plea agreement that included guilty pleas to the misdemeanor charges of criminal operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury. Each crime is punishable by up to 364 days in jail.

Justice Harold Stewart II sentenced Johnson to eight months in jail on the latter crime, suspending all but 12 days, which Johnson will serve in an alternative sentencing program, including community service.

Johnson will be on probation for one year, during which he will be barred from having any alcohol or illegal drugs for which he may be searched and tested at random.

He must undergo substance abuse evaluation and engage in treatment to the satisfaction of his probation officer, Justice Stewart said.

On the charge of operating under the influence, Johnson was sentenced to 12 days to be served at the same time as his sentence on the other charge.

He was fined $1,000 and his driver’s license was suspended for 150 days.

On Oct. 27, 2019, Jason Stratton, then-31, of Lewiston was found lying by the side of Lisbon Street in Lewiston with life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Two pedestrians on Lisbon Street in Lewiston, near the Alfred A. Plourde Parkway overpass, heard someone calling from help from nearby bushes. That person was identified as Stratton and investigators determined he’d been struck from behind by a vehicle that left the scene.

The impact shattered Stratton’s pelvis, broke his arm and ankle, severely damaged his legs, and caused other injuries that led to kidney failure, pneumonia and near death.

He was taken to a Lewiston hospital for emergency treatment. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma and attempted to raise his blood pressure enough to begin reconstructive surgery on his legs and pelvis.

Parts of the vehicle that apparently struck Stratton were recovered at the scene of the crash.

Investigators analyzed the make, model and year of manufacture of those parts, narrowing their search of suspects to those who drove a 2014 or newer gray Toyota Tundra.

Based also on the direction of travel of the suspect’s vehicle, police focused their investigation on Johnson. After not finding the truck at his home, police went to Brad’s Precision Auto, Johnson’s business in Auburn.

There, an officer found a truck with front-end damage that fit the description of the vehicle from the crash scene. Parts of the truck were sitting in the truck bed.

Parts recovered from the crash scene matched his truck, according to prosecutors.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mador told Justice Stewart that Stratton was now residing in Ohio with family and that he told prosecutors his “life is in a much better place there than it had been here.”

He told prosecutors his civil complaint against Johnson had been settled and he didn’t want to return to Maine for a trial, Mador said.

Informed of the agreement prosecutors had crafted with Johnson, Stratton had said he “essentially didn’t want to see the defendant serve any time,” Mador said.

Stratton said he’d “moved on with his life and wishes the defendant well,” Mador said.

“In my opinion, had the victim been cooperative and had the victim been here, we certainly had a case that we could have gone forward with and had a high likelihood of meeting our burden of proof” at trial, she said.

Verne Paradie, attorney for Johnson, said his client “feels horrible about what happened” in the “tragic incident,” but noted an accident reconstruction analysis conducted by an expert for the defense “would have (at trial) placed the victim in Mr. Johnson’s travel lane — on the wrong side of the road from where he should have been walking — (and) in dark clothing and Mr. Johnson would not have been able to see him until immediately upon impact.”

Justice Stewart said that, taking into account all of the elements of the case, “all in all, I think this is a very satisfactory resolution.”

In exchange for the pleas, a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death was dismissed Tuesday by prosecutors as was a misdemeanor charge of falsifying physical evidence.