A married couple who were traveling to pick up their 9-year-old daughter from a friend’s house Saturday night were killed when a sport utility vehicle crossed the centerline and hit their full-size pickup truck head-on in Litchfield, authorities said Sunday.

The driver of the Lincoln SUV will likely face criminal charges related to speed and alcohol, according to a statement issued by Maine State Police. The driver, Shawn W. Metayer, 60, of Litchfield, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash and was listed in fair condition Sunday night at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

This pickup truck was carrying the Litchfield couple who were killed in a head-on collision Saturday night Maine State Police photo

Killed in the crash were Derek Trudeau, 48, and his wife, Stephanie, 40, of Litchfield. State police said the couple died on impact.

Friends and relatives of the Trudeaus were working Sunday with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to find a temporary placement for the couple’s daughter, said Katharine England, spokeswoman for the state police.

Authorities received reports of a driver operating erratically around 7:40 p.m. Saturday in Litchfield, state police said in the statement Sunday. A report of a two-vehicle crash was received 10 minutes later.

State troopers James Moore, Nicholas Gleeson and Kyle Pelletier determined that Metayer’s SUV crossed the centerline on Hallowell Road and struck an oncoming motor vehicle.

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“Troopers believe speed and alcohol to be factors, and charges are pending Metayer’s release from the hospital,” state police said.

The Trudeaus were headed to a friend’s house to pick up their daughter, authorities said.

Litchfield Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Tina Gowell told the Kennebec Journal that the collision occurred about a mile north of the Litchfield post office, near an area known locally as “Purgatory.”

Metayer’s criminal history record, obtained Sunday night from the Maine State Bureau of Identification, shows that he was charged with criminal mischief and theft of services, both misdemeanors, in October 1980. He appeared in Lewiston District Court and was found guilty, records show.

Metayer was also involved in a motor vehicle accident in Lewiston on Oct. 6, 2018, according to a crash report obtained from the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Lewiston police said that Metayer, who listed his address as Lisbon at the time, was operating a red Harley-Davidson motorcycle when it rear-ended a motor vehicle that had stopped on the Longley Bridge for a traffic light, near the intersection of Main and Lincoln streets.

Metayer was knocked off his motorcycle and suffered a leg injury. In the police report, officers attributed the crash to Metayer following too closely. He was briefly knocked unconscious and was not given a drug or alcohol test, according to the crash report.

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