Two people died Thanksgiving Day in predawn highway crashes in Avon and Peru, police said, and road conditions were factors in both.

Sgt. Aaron Hayden said Carlton Haggan, 38, of Strong was traveling north on Route 4 in Avon when he lost control of his car at about 5:45 a.m. Thursday.

Hayden said Haggan’s 1994 Ford Mustang bounced off the side of the second of the two cars he was passing, went off the road on the left and struck a utility pole, shearing it in half. Haggan was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Roads were icy in the early-morning hours, Hayden said.

Trooper Aaron Turcotte, the primary investigator, said road conditions and speed were factors in the crash. Hayden and Trooper Reid Bond assisted him.

Northstar Ambulance and Phillips Fire Department also responded to the crash.

Black ice was a factor in two separate Peru crashes that occurred within seconds of each other on Route 108 near the Rumford town line, Sgt. Tim Holland of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday night.

Jake Pomeroy, 23, of Dixfield died when his 2000 Saab skidded on black ice, hit guardrails and rolled over, throwing him onto the highway, Holland said. Pomeroy was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

The officer said the accident occurred at 1:30 a.m. when a “real heavy frost” and “freezing fog” left the highway coated with ice.

Seconds after Pomeroy’s crash, Holland said, Tyler Child, 23, of Lacroix Road in Peru drove upon the scene in his 2003 Ford pickup truck. Trying to avoid another collision, he lost control on the black ice and the truck rolled onto its roof on the highway, Holland said.

Child suffered cuts and bruises from getting out of his crushed truck, the officer said, and was taken to Rumford Hospital by MedCare Ambulance for treatment. He was later released.

Pomeroy and Child were the lone occupants of their vehicles, which were both eastbound when they crashed.

Holland said a carload of young people came upon the scene, but was not involved. He said one of the occupants was Pomeroy’s best friend.

Route 108 was closed for more than eight hours as Oxford County Deputy Nate Bowie investigated the crashes, and Maine State Police Trooper Dan Hanson of Oxford County Deputy Justin Brown did reconstruction, Holland said. He, along with Oxford County Cpl. Chancey Libby and Rumford police, assisted.

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