LEWISTON — Authorities are continuing an investigation into a fatal hit-and-run in Turner Saturday night that left a 21-year-old South Paris woman dead.
Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office is keeping that county’s District Attorney’s Office updated on its probe into the incident, District Attorney Andrew Robinson said Tuesday.
According to Maine law, Robinson said, the operator of a vehicle involved in an accident that results in personal injury or death must stop immediately at the scene of the accident or as close as possible and immediately go back to the scene.
If the driver didn’t stop and intentionally, knowingly or recklessly failed to comply with the law, he could be charged with a felony. Otherwise, if he didn’t stop, he could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Authorities believe a 27-year-old Harrison man was driving the pickup truck that struck Brittany Stanhope on Route 117 Saturday as she attempted to retrieve something from the back seat of the sedan, which she had pulled over on the side of the road at about 8:50 p.m.
Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson said Tuesday that the car was pulled off the roadway as far as possible without going into the ditch, its left tires touching the fog line that marks the outer edge of the roadway.
Chief Deputy William Gagne said the Harrison man saw the news report Sunday morning that Stanhope had died and called police to report that he had driven that route around the time of the incident Saturday and thought he’d struck a deer with his dark-colored truck as he headed west toward Buckfield.
The man, whose name has not been released, has not been charged.
The truck was impounded and taken to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory in Augusta, where it was checked for damage and evidence, as well as tested for mechanical problems, Samson said.
Maine State Police are conducting reconstruction of the accident scene.
Gagne said Stanhope was traveling with a friend on Route 117 near the intersection with Bennett Road when they experienced some mechanical trouble.
Once his office has completed its investigation, its findings will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for review, Gagne said.
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