YORK — A spokesman with the Maine State Police said as of Jan. 13, no charges had been filed against a South Portland tractor-trailer driver who was involved in a crash that killed a Falmouth couple Jan. 12.
According to police, Elizabeth and Geoffrey Gattis, both 68, were struck from behind by a tractor-trailer driven by David Herring, 38, of South Portland, and pushed into the back of another tractor-trailer driven by Lakhveer Gill, 40, of Brantford, Ontario. Police said the Falmouth couple was driving a 2014 Lexus RX230 north on Interstate 95 in York when they slowed down in heavy traffic.
Police said that the investigation is ongoing, but “speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors.”
Police had also indicated Herring “failed to recognize traffic had slowed down.”
About an hour earlier, police said, a Topsham man led state police, Kittery and York police on a high-speed chase on the southbound side of the highway that ended in the area where the fatal accident later occurred. Maine State Troopers attempted to stop David Stoddard, 49, of Topsham, after receiving reports of him driving erratically, police said. Stoddard allegedly tried to evade police and rammed a Kittery police cruiser while the officer was still inside. Stoddard was arrested on charges of elevated aggravated assault, aggravated reckless conduct, aggravated driving to endanger and eluding.
“This event slowed and stopped traffic in both the north and southbound lanes,” reads a statement about the accident on the state police website.
Betsy Gattis was a retired copy editor at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. Geoff Gattis was a retired executive vice president of Bath Savings.
The York County District Attorney’s Office will review the investigation of the fatal crash once it is completed, police said.
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