BATH — Bath police used a license plate found at the scene of a minor car crash to identify and then charge the operator with failing to report the accident.

Andrew L. Jones, 40, of 238 Adams Road, Brunswick, was summonsed on Feb. 13 and charged with failure to notify police of an accident by quickest means.

Bath police responded to a rotary at the intersection of Water Street and Congress Avenue at 2:22 a.m. Feb. 11 to find that a vehicle had struck a large Maine Department of Transportation sign, leaving its front bumper — and license plate — embedded in the leg of the sign, Bath Police Lt. Stan Cielinski said Friday.

Bath Police Officer Ted Raedel ran the license plate, which indicated that it had been affixed to a vehicle registered to Jones. Raedel visited Jones’ home the next evening, but no one answered the door, according to Cielinski.

The following day, Jones told police that a deer had run in front of his 1993 Honda Civic as he drove through the rotary, causing him to strike the sign.

“I’ve never heard of a deer in that location before, but it’s possible,” Cielinski said. “It’s an awful unique place for a deer to be.”

Police estimate the damage to the sign at $1,000, and damage to the Honda at approximately $2,000.

Jones is scheduled to appear in West Bath District Court on April 3.

bbrogan@timesrecord.com