BELFAST, Maine — A former Medway selectman has been indicted on charges of manslaughter and aggravated driving to endanger for his involvement in an accident in Monroe last fall that claimed the life of a co-worker and injured another.
James Lee, 43, of Medway was charged by secret indictment by the Waldo County grand jury on Tuesday.
The indictment was released after Lee’s arrest on Wednesday. Lee later was freed on $50,000 bail.
Bail conditions require that he not operate vehicles or construction equipment and have no contact with the other two men who survived the Sept. 22 crash.
Lee, who runs the family business Emery Lee & Sons of Millinocket with his brothers, was bringing a work crew home from a job in Belfast in a company truck when it left Monroe Road at a high rate of speed and crashed into the woods.
William Russell, 28, was killed in the crash and William York was seriously injured. Another passenger, Chad Brackett, 30, also was injured.
York had to be removed from the truck with an extrication device and was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor by LifeFlight helicopter. Lee, who reportedly suffered a broken collarbone in the wreck, and Brackett were taken to EMMC by ambulance.
Maine Department of Motor Vehicle records for the past 10 years show that Lee has had 15 speeding violations, 14 of which were for traveling more than 15 mph over the posted limit. His license has been suspended six times in the past decade.
338-9546