SOUTH PARIS — An Auburn man is facing a manslaughter charge stemming from a crash last year in Turner in which a Turner teenager was killed.

An Oxford County grand jury handed up an indictment Thursday against Spencer W. Dowd, 20, of 396 Turner St., Auburn, charging manslaughter, a Class A felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

The indictment also included a charge of eluding an officer, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and driving to endanger, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

An additional charge of operating beyond license condition or restriction is a misdemeanor.

Authorities said May 29, 2020, Dowd was driving a 2006 Honda Accord sedan on Route 4 when it struck a utility pole and rolled over.

A passenger in the car, Julie Beaucage, 18, was killed in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Advertisement

Dowd was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he was listed in critical condition, according to Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office. He eventually recovered from his injuries.

Another passenger, Keegan Pelletier, 19, of Auburn also was taken to the Lewiston hospital and was later released.

Androscoggin County Chief Deputy William Gagne said a deputy was parked on Route 4 at about 2:50 a.m. when the car went past at a high speed, passing other vehicles.

The deputy pursued the Honda, which continued southbound and nearly struck a Maine State Police trooper’s cruiser, which was traveling north, according to Gagne.

Dowd reportedly lost control of the car near Lake Shore Drive and his vehicle went off the east side of the road, striking and breaking a utility pole, then rolling over.

Dowd and Pelletier had to be extricated from the car by the Turner Fire Department.

The teens had been drinking and partying in Hartford earlier that night. The Oxford County grand jury acted as a regional grand jury, also representing Androscoggin County, when it indicted Dowd, according to a spokesman from the District Attorney’s Office.

Related Headlines

Comments are not available on this story.

filed under: