BANGOR, Maine — Investigators have not been able to interview the injured 72-year-old man who was behind the wheel of a minivan that struck two vehicles Sunday night and resulted in the death of his wife, police say.
“They tried yesterday and they couldn’t” get an interview, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Tuesday morning. “They’re going to try again today.”
Detectives went to Eastern Maine Medical Center to speak with Ralph Morrison and again came away empty-handed, the sergeant said.
He was injured so badly that he was “incapacitated” after the accident and so far has been unable to answer questions.
His wife, Diane Morrison, 68, died at the scene.
Police say Ralph Morrison was driving a 2007 Hyundai minivan out Broadway about 6 p.m. Sunday when he first struck a 2000 Toyota Camry driven by Bangor resident Wynona Butera, 71.
The minivan then went out of control and hit head-on a 2002 GMC Envoy heading into town. The collision occurred at the junction of Broadway and Burleigh Road, which is where Kev-Lan is located.
The impact spread debris all over the road and caused the SUV to roll over. Extrication equipment was used to get the SUV’s driver. Lisa Pelkey, 46, and her passengers, husband, Ray Pelkey, and daughter, Alyssa Pelkey, 11, out of the vehicle.
All three were all transported to EMMC and remained there on Tuesday, Edwards said.
Alyssa Pelkey was listed in good condition on Monday, but no information was available about her condition, that of her parents or Morrison on Tuesday, a hospital official said.
Butera and her passengers, Evelyn Dowdy, 71, and Mary Cox, 90, were either transported by ambulance or went to local hospitals on their own, Edwards said.
Police are trying to determine why Morrison’s vehicle went out of control and the department’s accident reconstruction team and criminal investigations division are investigating.
Police still are interested in talking to people who witnessed the fatal crash or have information about it. Those with information are asked to contact Bangor Police Department at 947-7382. The anonymous tip line can be accessed by pressing ext. 6.
What a sad situation. It makes me wonder if he may have had a stroke.
I’ll repost here:
I still believe that there is no way that the current police version is correct UNLESS the initial collision happened north of the Griffen/Burleigh intersection and not in front of Giffords.
PerCynicalMatador
“Fortunately it was caught on video by the Tom T/gas station
cameras on the corner. I’m a bit surprised they havent released the
results of that, as from my understanding, it verifies the eye witness
statements that the envoy was to blame.”
WOW!
If you think about it logically, there should have never been much
doubt that the SUV was headed north (out) Broadway and not south has
the “corrected” police statement indicates. There is no way the
“northbound” minivan could have hit the “southbound” SUV with enough
force to essentially knock it backwards into the corner lot of the
Kev-Lan which is where the SUV ended, upside down. However, the
inertial force of a speeding SUV heading north certainly could carry it
up over the southbound minivan continuing north into the location on
the corner, (a sort of corkscrew through the air) all while causing the
minivan to spin into its final resting place. This one seems almost too simple to miss.
Remember inertia and vectors in physics class? I do.
My question is, if the tape does indeed show the Envoy caused the accident, how does the BPD backtrack after already putting the blame (with seeming certainty) publicly on Morrison?
And if the tape shows the minivan caused the accident, you’d think that would be more straightforward/direct than an “educated guess” through reconstruction. I mean, at minimum, it would have to show direction of travel for both vehicles (or even 1, which by itself would give the other vehicles direction as well), yet nothings being said about the video or what it shows.
It is just horrible the way the police have publicly stated that the van was responsible for the accident when the witnesses who actually saw the accident say it was the Envoy.
Everyone is blaming the police for the misinformation that was printed in the Bangor Daily News. I once again ask you all to consider that the initial article was written before the accident reconstruction team was done with their investigation. That means the reporter took what they had (accurate or not) from witness statements and assumptions and wrote an article that should not have been written. At least not an article that pointed blame since the article was written before the facts were known.
The initial article said what the witnesses at the scene saw. That in itself isnt misinformation, until the BDN seemingly recycled a quote and “reapplied it” to the other vehicle when the previous day it had been claimed to be the Envoy. There wasnt a “correction” notice, just a recycled quote that seemingly attempted to change the blame a day after the fact. The first article had witness names, or identifying “titles” (mother of the 22 year old who worked at Giffords/Sean OBrian of Dover Foxcroft), the second article just basically ignored everything written the day before and stated the exact opposite (including the recycled quote).
My problem in regards to the police handling is that they havent even fully reviewed the information yet, but publicly are laying blame on Morrison. If the police havent even reviewed the video of the crash (that Tammy said proved the Envoy was the cause), why give a statement of the nature Edwards did where they’re “trying to figure out why Morrison lost control” before even knowing for sure he did? They’re just assuming it at the moment, and may be 100% wrong, yet are putting that out to the public.
:0(
The Bangor PD doesn’t have to “backtrack”. They just simply need to state at the end of the investigation what the conclusions are, and if that contradicts their initial statement, they just simply say so. No backtracking. They have not blamed anyone, but said what the initial reports were. No one is blamed for anything until they find out what when wrong and why.
I’d say that Edwards press release from the last article pretty squarely put the blame on Morrison, saying his was the vehicle “speeding and out of control”, and ” investigating why Morrison’s vehicle went out of control”.
They’ve already put it out there that it was Morrisons “fault”, but were looking for “what happened that made it his fault”.
The whole situation has been handled incredibly poorly.
A lot of their work is, a fatality is involved and despite all the witnesses, etc they somehow come to a conclusion of how it happened. They should have shut up, waited until they conducted an interview and use it with witness statements and any video to come to a conclusion that sounds more logical then what is being put out there.
Here is one, I wasn’t there, but I don’t think it was Mr Morrison’s fault. I am going to go ahead and make a public press release on it despite my lack of interviewing and reviewing any cameras and adding up any witness statements.
I completely agree. Its almost as if they figure that the man in the hospital will never be able to give a full account of what really happened so the police are taking the word of the driver of the Envoy and it’s occupants. It would be easier to place blame on someone they may never regain posterity enough to talk about the accident expecially when it caused the death of his beloved wife.
Does anyone stop to think that maybe, just maybe the family in the suv is incapacitated as well, you’ve all seen the pictures, everyone knows the suv went into the air and rolled many times, I do know that both parents and their child have all had to have surgury.
Tracy, i wasnt trying to assume anything more than i dont believe the police have done their job if they give one story at first and then a complete contradictory story second. This was a terrible tragedy however it was caused, but i do think its important to find out who it was, since we are talking huge money in insurance claims and hospital bills. One thing is for sure…the insurance companies involved will get to the bottom of the story because they will want the company of the one responsible to take care of the bills. My heart certainly goes out to ALL of the injured and i apologize if it seemed i wasnt caring towards the family of the Envoy…My prayers are also with them for a full recovery.
Jeff, I should of clarifyed, this was basically directed at everyone who has the suv family, tried and convicted,when it would be impossible for the police to have all the facts yet, including having both cars inspected for any mechanical issues. I’m sorry if it seemed totally directed at you, which of course it seemed seeing it was under your comment. My heart as well goes out to ALL involved.
If they are still investigating why have they stated that the crash was caused by the minivan. Is’nt that something you should conclude after you investigate not before.
You would think so, but it’s really easy to blame the vehicle whose driver has likely been unconscious and unable to speak up. It was incredibly unprofessional to do that, especially in light of not having spoken to the driver of the van and the fact that all of those witnesses said something very different. They are going to owe Mr. Morrison a major apology.
RIP Mrs. Morrison….
Wow. I wish the BDN would do a story on how the “public statement” from the police contradicts most all the statements from the witnesses that have posted here.
If the minivan hit the Toyota first, and then the GMC. How is the driver of the GMC to blame for the accident?
‘Police say Ralph Morrison was driving a 2007 Hyundai minivan out Broadway about 6 p.m. Sunday when he first struck a 2000 Toyota Camry driven by Bangor resident Wynona Butera, 71.
The minivan then went out of control and hit head-on a 2002 GMC Envoy heading into town. The collision occurred at the junction of Broadway and Burleigh Road, which is where Kev-Lan is located.’
People who saw the accident have been consistently saying that the it was the Envoy that caused the accident. Based on what some have described with the speed it sort of sounds like it is possible the Envoy’s gas pedal was stuck and they couldn’t stop and were trying to avoid hitting people. The ladies in the Toyota are lucky, though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out that the mini van also hit them after the Envoy hit the van. Maybe that is why the police have said what they have. They may have been hit by the van when it was spinning from being hit by the Envoy.
The minivan and toyota were not anywhere close to each other. Envoy clipped right side of Toyota, slid sideways quite a ways, hit minivan in other lane virtually head one, spun the minivan around so that it was in the other lane looking like it was going out outer broadway and thats when the SUV went airborne and flipped over many times.
Check the first article regarding the accident and all the witnesses quoted in it said they saw the GMC doing what a day later the police and BDN charged the minivan with. Like every witness quoted in the first article stated unequivocally that it was the Envoy that was speeding, hit the Toyota, and then ran into the van with the Morrisons in it. The next article, the Police seemed to use those same statements that said it was the Envoy to claim it was actually the minivan. Basically, what the police are now saying goes against what every witness initially reported, but more so, it seems the testimony itself is getting twisted in a way (see Sean O’Briens statement in the first article).
People writing on here also claimed to have witnessed aspects of the accident that verifies the initial story as reported, yet the police are insistent that they are mistaken based on the reconstruction they’ve done. It just seems the multitudes of eye witnesses certain of what they saw is getting “ignored” to push a different scenario (for whatever reason). In one breath, the PD is saying they are certain it was the minivans fault (despite all the witnesses), in the next, they want more witnesses to come forward with what happened (yet, more in the “why did Morrison lose control” leading way).
It just seems they shouldnt be pushing a story while still asking what happened, as that will probably affect what story they get.
I just hope Mr. Morrison survives and that they listen to and believe him. His nephew posted something yesterday and he seemed kind of angry that his uncle was being blamed and even he insisted that the mini van was driving towards Bangor and not away from it. He said he would make sure his uncle didn’t get blamed. I wonder if he will file any lawsuits.
Police haven’t talked to the driver of the minivan. But what is the driver of the Envoy saying, and why isn’t that being reported esp. since witness statements posted on this and yesterday’s story contradict what’s being written?
knowing this situation, the lady is probably saying she cant remember. I just hope they have the right person, and it is said that they are going by the recreation, instead of by witnesses, or I dont know the camera’s that should of picked up something.
THIS IS BEING TOTALLY COVERED UP IT HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE PAPER , THE FIX IS IN .
an escape goat, eh?
If I had an escape goat I would ride off into the sunset on it, never to be heard from again on this forum…
The ONLY thing better than an escape goat is an escape llama…
ROFL an escape goat..I’m sorry but thats funny!
Was it the Guest comment that got removed that used the phrase “Escape Goat?” Too cute and/or friggin’ funny depending on the age of the commentor. :P
I know a case needs to be solved, but the poor man just lost his wife, and who knows what kind of condition he is in medically.. give him a little time.. :(
No one has any obligation whatsoever to be questioned by a member of law enforcement/government official. You do not have to speak with them, period.
There was NO reason to remove Tammy’s comment. She broke NONE of the terms of service, and contributed both a first hand account of the accident, as well as documented there is video evidence that is was the Envoy that was responsible. That would seem pretty “on topic”, considering the seeming railroad job going on.
Was Tammy’s comment about knowing the Pelkey family and personally talking to Lisa Pelkey? That comment seems to have disappeared. ??? My friend, who was at Giffords at the time of the accident, said that everyone there was stating that it was the Envoy that caused the crash. Hopefully this will be settled very soon for all involved.
Tammy was the employee of Tom T’s who saw the video, and said they’d given it to the police, but they hadn’t looked at it yet. She mentioned how the Envoy almost hit another employees car up the road before the accident happened, which actually another poster had mentioned as seeing as well.
The other post (I believe it was CountryGirl2012), there was nothing wrong with that one either, but that one is gone as well. I kinda wanted to say something about her “everything would be recorded backwards” comment (kinda seemed almost dismissive of whatever the video would show), but she was giving her friends side (even though it didnt mesh with what others have said) which we hadnt heard yet.
Thanks so much for the clarification! I also wanted to say something about the “backwards on the recording” comment that was made by CountryGirl2012. Tammy was absolutely positive that the recording showed the Envoy causing the accident then? My small concern was that when googled, the two vehicles in question look similar but one was silver (the Envoy) and one was blue/gray (the minivan). Did anyone say that they saw a woman at the wheel of the speeding vehicle?
I have no evidence but I go through that intersection daily and there are literally hundreds of cars daily that run the red light, mostly at very high speeds. I wonder if that was a factor in this tragedy. Bangor police spent a day or two there picking up offenders but must have given up on the effort.
Wasn’t making enough $$$. According to the website linked below, tickets for running a red light in ME start at $25. Wouldn’t know bc I’ve never gotten one, but I suspect it’s $25 for first timers.
http://www.trafficviolationlawfirms.com/resources/traffic-tickets/moving-violations/ran-red-light-fines-traffic-points.htm
Are you kidding me? No wonder it doesn’t bother anyone to run a red light. Should be $100+ first time? $500 for the next? Are you getting the picture? There would be a lot less violations if the fines were steeper. On 2nd red light violation, most people aren’t going to want to give a whole paycheck to the state. If the fines were increased, people would be more likely to stop at red lights.
I still maintain it was the SUV. But it doesn’t seem to matter does it? The minivan and that poor man is getting blamed. Despite the nephew posting his uncle was heading into town (which I stated) and the person who had the SUV almost hit them up near WZON towards outer Broadway (which I also stated). I know what I saw, and it was the SUV hitting the vehicles. Im beginning to sound like a freakin broken record.
My friend was at Giffords too and she said that everyone that actually witnessed it happening, said it was the Envoy that caused the accident. You are not alone in what you saw. I wasn’t there, so I can’t say what happened….just wanted to let you know you weren’t alone.
Ive neevr seen so many comments removed for no good reason,if this was the vans fault they would have closed the case by now ,,pd has a whole lot of explaining to do ,they got caught up in the social media crap too by posting two different accounts on fb.
Well cynical matador if thats true that vid needs to go on you tube and fb, watch it go viral ,something is fishy here!!
This whole thing is making me a tad upset. They are not taking in account what the witnesses are saying. I saw the Envoy. So did all the people in line waiting to get a ice cream that Sunday night. I am not crazy, I was not influenced by any other person. I saw the Envoy hit those people. I have repeated it over and over and I still stand by that. Its frustrating because I do not want this poor man to wake up and be blamed or have guilt in the death of his wife. I choose to believe that the Envoy was going out of control for reasons other than intentional. I do not believe it was malicious and can only speculate on what caused them to go fast, I do pray and hope for recovery for all of the people involved. however I will state once again…IT WAS THE ENVOY NOT THE MINIVAN.
How do you know? You’re smarter than the police? Did you know there was a 911 call that stated a mini van was travelling outbound Broadway at a high rate of speed? Know the facts before spouting off at the mouth!
“How do you know?”
Well, as she’s stated about 600 times, she saw it happen.
And like I said in another post was she watching his when it occurred or when she heard the bang?
I’m so happy that all of you seem to know more than the police reconstruction team. You should all go apply for a job. Now shut the heck up and let them do there job.
So you’re telling me that every single person that said they saw this was turned around at the exact moment the vehicles hit? BS. There is no possible way that most were not looking at all until they heard a bang! You all need to shut the heck up, and if you all saw this have you called the BPD phone line?