HAMPTON, N.H. — Police say the driver in a crash that killed two cyclists in New Hampshire did not have a license and had been stopped hours earlier for allegedly speeding.

Hampton Deputy Police Chief Richard Sawyer told the Portsmouth Herald that 20-year-old Darriean Hess of Seabrook was stopped at 12:46 a.m. Saturday for allegedly speeding in the same area where the crash happened eight hours later.

He said she didn’t have a license. She was ticketed and ordered to wait for a friend to drive her car away.

Police said Hess was driving again around 8:30 a.m. Saturday when her vehicle crossed the centerline on a bridge in Hampton, N.H., and hit four cyclists participating in the 100-mile 40th annual Granite State Wheelmen Tri-State Seacoast Century ride.

The crash killed two Massachusetts women, Pamela Wells, 60, of South Hamilton, and Elise Bouchard, 52, of Danvers. Two other riders suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The annual cycling event features two days of rides along routes in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The investigation continues. Sawyer said Hess submitted to a blood test that will check for alcohol or other substances.


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