By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – There were close encounters between authorities and trucker Scott Hewitt, 32, both in his hometown of Caribou and on a New York highway, officials said Thursday.

Despite those encounters, his driving record, his lack of a valid license and his outstanding warrants, Hewitt was able to elude authorities and keep on driving until July 29. That’s when his rig slammed into and crushed a car driven by Tina Turcotte on the Maine Turnpike in Hallowell. Turcotte, 40, of Scarborough, died two days later.

On July 28, one day before the crash, Hewitt was driving his truck on an upstate New York highway when he was stopped by New York state troopers. Hewitt was given multiple citations and his truck temporary ordered out of service because a taillight was hanging and a brake light was not working, New York State Police Lt. Glenn Miner said. A computer check showed he held a valid Maine license, Miner said.

New York troopers were conducting a routine commercial truck road check on Route 17 in Nichols, N.Y., when Hewitt approached. “Scott Hewitt was seen attempting to back up before reaching the checkpoint,” Miner said. “A trooper stopped him and directed him in.” Police conducted an inspection.

Hewitt was given five citations for not paying a trucking tax, a logbook violation, driving an unregistered vehicle, and two defective equipment violations for the broken lights. Police ordered his truck out of service until the lights were repaired, Miner said. Driving an unregistered vehicle would not have been a serious-enough violation to hold him, Miner said, but driving without a license would have been.

New York troopers ran a check on Hewitt’s license through the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, Miner said. “Nothing came back on it. No information on suspensions or revocations came up. As far as we could tell, he had a valid license” through 2008.

If the check had shown his license was not valid, Hewitt would have been arrested, arraigned before a judge and not released until bail was posted, Miner said. “Our troopers followed proper protocols. They did the proper driver’s license checks. No information was returned.”

Maine officials said Thursday they had no idea why a national computer check failed to show that Hewitt’s license was suspended. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said Maine State Police Col. Craig Poulin. It does make sense that the warrants did not show, Poulin said, because warrants for failure to pay a fine would not be entered in a national crime computer system.

Doug Dunbar of the Secretary of State’s Office also said he did not know why a check by New York police would show Hewitt’s license was valid. “Our systems have accurately shown that he is under suspension since May 9. We don’t know what database was searched in New York, nor the queries made. We checked the systems today and found they accurately reflect the fact that he is suspended.”

Looking for Hewitt

Meanwhile, an investigator in the Secretary of State’s Office in Aroostook County was assigned to find Hewitt and take possession of the license plates on his truck, Chief of Motor Carrier Services Garry Hinkley said Thursday.

That assignment was given June 22 when Hewitt’s license to drive a commercial truck was rescinded. An investigator “was actively looking for him. She went to his door more than once.” The investigator didn’t find Hewitt, or his truck, at the Caribou address. The truck was apparently on the road, Hinkley said.

The registration plates were due to expire in November, at which point Hewitt would not have been able to register them. “Sooner or later we would have caught up with him,” Hinkley said. “Unfortunately it wasn’t soon enough.”

Caribou acting Police Chief Michael Gahagan said his department was not aware that Hewitt was driving without a license, nor did his department know he was wanted on outstanding warrants for failure to pay fines. The department would not know unless he was pulled over for something, Gahagan said. But the last time Caribou police dealt with Hewitt was in 2004, Gahagan said.

In general, police don’t actively go looking for people driving after license suspensions, or for arrest warrants for failure to pay fines, which was why Hewitt had warrants. “It wasn’t like there was an all-points bulletin on him,” Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said. “The threshold is low. But once they stop you, they check everything. The records are run. Why that didn’t happen in New York is beyond me.”

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