Editor’s note: On Oct. 13, 2016, the Maine State Police investigation concluded that the pickup truck was driven by Brandon Harthorne. Jeremy Reardon was seated in the front passenger seat, and Malakai Cawood was a backseat passenger. Reardon was not driving the vehicle. The cause of the crash was attributed to human error.
DURHAM – Police on Thursday were still trying to determine who was driving the pickup truck involved in a fiery, fatal wreck with a dump truck on Route 9 a day before.
Two men were killed and two were injured in the 7:15 a.m. crash at Route 9 and Runaround Pond Road.
The two injured men were recovering Thursday and were expected to survive.
Jeremy Reardon, 35, of Buxton, part of a work crew, was the only survivor from the pickup. He remained at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he was listed in good condition Thursday afternoon.
Two others from the Chevrolet pickup truck, Malakai Cawood, 21, of Limington and Brendon Harthorn, 24, of Cornish, died at the scene.
Neither of the victims had been wearing a seat belt, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
Early reports were that the driver of the pickup truck, traveling on Runaround Pond Road, failed to stop at the intersection and collided with a dump truck driven by Clifton Larrabee, 42, of Durham. The pickup caught fire almost immediately and a short time later burst into flames.
Travis Plowman, owner of Plowman Construction in Gorham, employed the three workers who had been riding in the pickup truck. He told the Portland Press Herald that he believes Harthorn was likely driving.
James Merrill, who lives nearby and was among the first to arrive on the scene and helped pull Reardon from the driver’s seat, told the Sun Journal on Wednesday that he “got talking to (Reardon) and asked him what happened. He told me that he blew the stop sign.”
Larrabee, of Larrabee Construction was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with a variety of injuries following the crash.
A captain with Durham Fire & Rescue, Larrabee was listed in fair condition at the hospital on Thursday. Friends said Larrabee is the kind of man who would have rushed to the aid of the others if he’d been able.
“He’s that friend you can call at 3 a.m. when you’re in a bind,” said Andrew Ward of Buxton. “He’s a kindhearted, hardworking guy who would give his shirt off his back to help a complete stranger. In that crash yesterday, if he hadn’t got pinned in that truck he would have been the first one rendering aid to the others involved. That’s just who he is.”
The Maine Department of Transportation sent a crew to Durham on Thursday to clean the crash site.
Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash. No charges have been filed.
UPDATE: Dying man in Durham crash: ‘Tell my family that I love them’
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