BANGOR, Maine — Police went to Tom T’s on Broadway on Wednesday and reviewed video from its surveillance cameras caught Sunday night during the fatal crash that occurred right in front of the convenience store, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards confirmed.
“They’re looking at these sorts of things and as far as I know, nothing has been yielded in the case,” the sergeant said.
Police say Ralph Morrison, 72, was driving a 2007 Hyundai minivan out Broadway about 6 p.m. Sunday when he first struck a 2000 Toyota Camry, also heading outbound, and then went out of control and hit head-on a 2002 GMC Envoy heading into Bangor.
The collision, which occurred at the junction of Broadway and Burleigh Road, resulted in the death of Morrison’s wife, Diane Morrison, 68.
She was his passenger and died at the scene. Seven people, including Morrison, were injured in the deadly crash. Morrison is so badly hurt that police investigators — three days later — have not been able to interview him. Without the interview, police have not been able to determine if he had some sort of medical condition that caused him to accelerate, Edwards said.
Morrison is at Eastern Maine Medical Center, as are the three people who were in the Envoy. The SUV’s driver, Lisa Pelkey, 46, and her passengers, husband Ray Pelkey and daughter Alyssa Pelkey, 11, remained at the hospital on Wednesday, Edwards said.
The four injured motorists or their family members have asked that their conditions not be released to the public, hospital officials have said.
Several eyewitnesses at the accident scene on Sunday said it was the Envoy that was speeding and caused the accident, a statement supported by the Tom T’s video, store clerk Laura White said Wednesday night. She said she was not working Sunday night and didn’t see the fatal crash, but has watched the surveillance camera video.
“I saw an SUV,” she said. “The cops still are saying they saw the van. It doesn’t look like a van to me. Everyone else who saw it and was there are saying it was the SUV.”
Edwards said he is well aware of the controversy about which vehicle caused the accident.
“I’m hearing the conspiracy theories,” he said. “I totally understand about the confusion. It’s difficult when you have two cars with similar colors.”
Morrison’s minivan was a blue-gray color and the Envoy was a silver-gray.
A number of people have posted comments on the Bangor Police Department’s Facebook page and on Bangor Daily News stories that insist police are wrong about what caused the fatal crash.
Eyewitnesses are often in shock after accidents, especially fatal collisions, Edwards said, adding that while statements are important, investigators must rely on the evidence they collect at the scene. In this case, the evidence collected so far shows Morrison’s vehicle was speeding and struck the two other vehicles, the sergeant said.
“The evidence is what it is,” Edwards said.
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 the Bangor Police Department at 947-7382. The anonymous tip line can be accessed by pressing ext. 6.
they are just now looking at the tape ? Are you kidding me? This should have been the first thing thing in other words are you going to believe the pd or your lying eyes
Your right ace…before they secured the scene, directed traffic, set up safe zones for the fire and EMS to work in, checked license and registration info. took photos, took measurements, took witness names, addresses, phone numbers of witnesses, etc… the all should have rushed into the two gas stations and Tractor Supply Store and asked to see the video. Yup that was the “FIRST THING” the BPD should have done.
They had plenty of time to accuse this man of killing his own wife. Maybe they should have gotten all the facts first.They just last night charge a women with the hit and run in bangor. The difference she could defend herself. Last week if you typed the name Patricia Giles it would be removed by BDN. The police and BDN had no problem protecting her identity because she had not been charged with a crime. This man has not been charged with anything.
They didn’t accuse him of killing his wife. THey said he was driving the car that caused the accident that killed his wife. Which it did.
What I am saying is keep your mouth shut and do not accuse anyone until you are done investigating. They have not even spoken to this man.
You mean the man driving the van who probably can’t talk to anyone at this point? What if he goes into a coma. Do they still have to wait? How about if he dies? Still can’t say anything? They are apparently confident based on the investigation they’ve done so far to release the initial findings. Just because you don’t like those findings doesn’t mean they should do anything differently. There is NO indication that they have ANY concern they they are wrong about how this crash occurred. There’s probably a good reason for it.
Here’s the difference.
Hit and run with resulting death = criminal investigation = criminal charges.
Fatal accident = accident investigation
Exactly, if this was a robbery, they would have been reviewing that tape the same night! But BPD already opened their mouth as to who they think caused the wreck when a video camera clearly seems to show otherwise. BPD has a hole they need to dig their way up out of.
But its OK for you to run you mouth about something that you know absolutely nothing about other than what commenters on the BDN say. I’d say they made the right call and released the information. There is little evidence suggesting otherwise. Yes, a few “eye witnesses” who are posting anonymously here, but there is the same saying the van caused the crash. People are ridiculous.
And it’s OK for Bangor Police to do the same thing, run their mouths claiming they know something that they also were not a witness to?
It’s the same thing, it’s ok for them to do it, it should be for everyone else!
There’s a difference between running your mouth and being trained, experience in doing an investigation, responding to to the scene in person and developing a realistic hypothesis based on fact.
I would love to see this tape released/leaked so people can see it. Realistically how many people are going to confuse an minivan with an envoy….
and contrary to what BPD says, the colors are NOT similar in anyway.
That’s odd, because I drove to the impound lot myself, both cars are parked right by the fence and I thought they were similar AND I could easily see how that mini van got confused as a SUV. But then again, that is coming from who actually saw the vehicles as opposed to read about them in the paper.
I would too. I’d like to think it would be an easy call but who knows how much of the road the camera even shows. I find it hard to believe that Tom T is going to point his camera at the intersections as opposed to the people stealing his gas etc.
I think the question is, how much of the actual accident is viewable on the video? It’s likely that it is a very small portion, or even just the last portion of what happened, that is viewable on the video. As BangorBully posted, it’s unlikely that the video camera is taping the intersection precisely where the accident took place. Of course I could be way off. I agree that it would be interesting to see it, and find out what is so confusing.
It took three days for them to get the video.You would have thought that would be one of the first things to look at.
The police have to get permission to access the video, then the proper authority from the store has to provide it.
The reporter should tell us, however, why it took three days.
The reporter has to think of the question in order to ask it.
and that would interrupt the shove the article out the door policy
They were heard on the scanner the day after the crash telling officers to go pick up the video. Just because they are now talking about it, doesn’t mean they are now just getting it. They are probably tired of all the conspiracy theorist screaming about the video. Now they can shut up about that and go back to studying the grealeaf case.
Given the location of the minivan in the photo, it certainly doesn’t look like it crossed the median into oncoming traffic and collided with the Envoy. It looks like the Envoy hit the minivan and flipped over. I can’t explain why the minivan would have hit the Camry, though. The photo just tells a different story, that’s all.
When two vehicles collide, especially when one or both are travelling at a higher rate of speed, the impact will cause the vehicles to spin around. I am thinking the Envoy was heading out Broadway, hit the Camry, then the van, causing the Envoy to flip and land in the grass and the van to spin around and stop in the opposite lane.
Stop thinking, you will hurt yourself.
I figure the police realize they may of made a mistake, and are hearing more than a few people say the same thing so they are trying to cover their tracks.
Or their tired of hearing from all the people who aren’t qualified, trained and many cases weren’t even there, didn’t do the investigation and wouldn’t even know how to do one if they did, telling them that they are wrong.
Maybe the City of Bangor should make the effort to paint the lines in its roads. The situation throught the city is an absolute disgrace! The city is grossly negligent. They should have been painted, after the winter, 2 months ago.
You know, it only takes one operator who suddenly finds that they have no guidance from the lane markings, and isn’t sure where the correct positioning of their car should be, to be right in the proper path of another operator who IS very familiar with an area and knows the layout of the road or intersection (even though the lines are very faint or missing) and is not expecting someone to unwittingly just drive in front of them.
How many more people need to be injured and killed on the streets of Bangor before the overdue painting gets done. I don’t know about the day of the accident, but a few days earlier I drove through the Broadway, Burleigh road intersection and some of the lane lines were completelty missing. Absolutely inexcuseable. The mall area, Stillwater Ave and Hogan Road another area that is a travesty. These road markings get completely worn away because these are areas of heavy traffic volume. Heavy traffic volume and no lane markings aboslutely guarantee there will be more unnecessay accidents. How bad does it have to get?
Don’t take my word for it, go look at all the missing lines for yourself. Disgraceful and negligent. Maybe we can all get together at the new civic center and talk about.
I have been saying the same thing. Bangor needs to redo the lines on the road. drivers that do know this town very well still have no clue what lane to be in so just imagine an out of towner
Yeah I feel like new lines on the road way would have slowed a vehicle down and we wouldn’t be in this situation………..
Re=paint the lines, are you serious? Isnt there another statue to move down to the waterfront? Isnt there some trash that needs to be picked up over by the Arena? City Council, please wake up and do the job you were elected to do. Bangor is a pretty decent sized city and there is more to it than the City Hall and waterfront. Lights out of sync, roads not painted, pot-holes that look more like caverns, why isnt this getting done? I dont thnk that this would have made this accident a lot better because i still believe that the Envoy was trying to make a green/yellow/soon to be red light and therefore, was speeding, but if at 45 with decent eyesight, i cannot see whee my lane is, then i am sure someone in their 80’s certainly cannot see it.
If that had contributed to this crash in anyway, that might be a relevant comment.
They don’t care about the tape because if that tape disputes their report that means that all their accident recreations can be called into question as junk science the money and time spent on these is astrnomical
So are you saying that if it supports their report, that it is now a proven science even with all these “eye witnesses” claiming it happened the other way around?
That won’t happen. We already know how bad this is being handled.
I find it odd, that a 71 year old Bangor man with his wife in a minivan on a late Sunday afternoon probably a few minutes to destination. speeding and a 46 year old Eddington woman in a SUV was not speeding.
Not pointing fingers or taking sides but it’s just not making sense.
Just because someone is 71 doesn’t automatically make them a slow driver. I’m 46 and I have PLENTY of impatient people of ALL ages pass me when I’m on Rt16/Spaulding Turnpike in NH. The speed limit is 55 mph and I’m usually going 60-65, but the other drivers leave me behind like I’m standing still.
That’s great science. Profiling at it’s worst. So the family in the SUV couldn’t have been coming back from camping somewhere up north and the old folks couldn’t have been going to one of the churches? Old people can’t drive fast and people with their families in the car can’t drive slow. Got it. THanks
Yeah makes as much sense as everyone’s
equally absurd analogy doesn’t it ?
you bully you
Right scintilate72 actually and he was way back by wzon dodging cars like Jeff Gordon in sprint cup race don’t believe it please get better or Morrison we need you to talk
ya well i was driving through that same intersection last and almost got hit by a car that ran the light or the light is off time maybe they should check that
True josh but impossible for a 72 year old man to have been seen passing and dodging cars by wzon with the same description of vehicle
“Impossible”? How?
I wonder if all the people that claim incomptence in these articles do their jobs perfectly and or they know how to do everyone else’s so well that they can be critical. Maybe those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Yet, No one commenting here has observed the accident, seen the video, were involved in a reconstruction nor really know anything about it. So before commenting on how incompetent anyone is, sit back for a minute and let people do their job. We are so excited to get quick information that we sometimes get bad information. None of you know when the video was reviewed, only that the BDN reported that it had been viewed. It is unbelievable to read the comments. Sometimes things like this dont get sorted out in 24 minutes plus commercials. I think the speed at which we get information now is detrimental to cautious thought and opinion. Not everything is a cover up. Sometimes rational people need all the facts to come to an adequate decision about what really happened. Eyewitness testimony is sometimes the most falable. Videos from securitycameras are sometimes very unclear. None of you know exactly where the cameras are pointing. At a scene like this you cannot “boil the ocean”. It has to be done one pan at a time.
Actually, some of the people who had written comments had both seen the accident and the video. While understanding that eye witness testimony isnt completely reliable, it does seem that everyone speaking about seeing the accident is saying the exact same thing. Apparently both Tammy and Laura saw the same thing in the video, that the Envoy was to blame, but it seems if it was that evident, the police wouldnt be able to say it’s inconclusive/doesnt give any new information.
I agree that it takes time to do an investigation, but think both the BPD and BDN should have handled the situation better by not running to throw out a story (or conflicting stories) assigning blame with certainty before even reviewing all the facts. It says in the article that the video was reviewed Wednesday (yesterday), but they’d already laid blame on Monday morning.
Maybe it was the van like they say, maybe it was the envoy like the witnesses all seem to say, but publicly coming out with blame before even reviewing the tape of what happened at minimum gives the impression that they were committed to a single scenario before having all the facts. It gives the air of impropriety, even if there really is none.
I was there. It was the Suv
The van’s insurance company is going to love you.
Self serving statement.
Check this link: Minivan or SUV?
http://www.google.com/imgres?start=90&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=Kx_wz1dU2S5UqM:&imgrefurl=http://cars.sltrib.com/cars/2008/Hyundai/Entourage/723464&docid=l9adKp6QHIOJ7M&imgurl=http://media.mediaut.com/utahrides/www.utahrides.com/uploads/l_PS1563_3e30975c9cc6902a87ca0eb0c9b70d91.jpg&w=640&h=480&ei=VBzaT6XeHLLM6QG72KDLAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1066&vpy=309&dur=27&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=151&ty=87&sig=101783495040017452834&page=5&tbnh=143&tbnw=232&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:90,i:39
sure that is a minivan, and looks nothing like
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z2794/GMC-Envoy.aspx
I’m more interested in what mom2abm thinks because she is the one who said she was there and saw it.
You will be proven wrong by video and physical evidence. Thus proving that while you are probably a wonderful, intelligent person, that eyewitness evidence is the worst kind. I am not trying to belittle you in any way. You might have been there. You might have been getting an ice cream or gas but you missed it. It’s difficult for people to comprehend how fast something like this happens. Witnesses miss key things in an incident. Its what the police have to overcome in every investigation.
I am a wonderful and intelligent person. I have for the past few days actually questioned myself. I know what I saw and I still state the Envoy was at fault, however I am indeed human and make mistakes as well. My hope is that regardless of the outcome, that every one recovers and if that poor man in the mini van actually is at fault then I hope he has the strength to carry on after finding
Out his beloved wife has passed. If the envoy is at fault then I hope it wasn’t malicious and simply a vehicle that went out of control. If I am wrong I will say I’m sorry, if I am right it will only confirm what I know I saw. Doesn’t change that a person has died. Me being right or wrong is the least of anyone’s concern.
Strong statement. And reasonable. There has been very little of that in these comments. You know I feel about what you believe you saw but I do appreciate this statement.
There is no way that you can determine that ANY poster was at the scene of the accident. Posting that “I was there” is a self serving statement.
Most witnesses see merely a portion of what occurred. Many times witnesses see a portion and the mind create more details to fill in the gaps of what they missed. It will come out eventually that the operator of the van was at fault. Thats all I can say. I am just sick and tired of the same posters bring up impropriety and cover up at every turn. Too many bored people bringing drama to a tragedy that they dont understand or know anything about. Basing your opinion on information you gleaned from another person who didnt see it, is not good information. The cops are right on about this and you might want to stop depending on people who are out to get their 15 minutes of fame when they get a chance to speak to a reporter. Secondly, reporters should stop writing stories based on what non-witnesses are saying. Its utterly ridiculous.
Thank-you BDN for printing the controversy and discrepancy between eye witness reports and police reports. I wish Bangor PD had simply stated that there is an accident investigation and time will tell what happened. Stating that eye witnesses are in shock and often unreliable makes it sound like they have already made up their mind. Do you job FIRST, and then make statements about conclusions.
The BDN contributed to this mess by interviewing “witnesses” and publishing their “eye witness accounts” too.
There is no reason to think the PD didn’t. Other than some loud mouths in the comments section.
Wow it took 3 days for them to check surveillance tapes from nearby businesses? Maybe I should be a detective.
God almighty, every person on this site is an expert.
They are obsessed!
They were in store watching vid again today store can’t copy it some kind of malfunction but someone has offered to try and copy it off the screen we shall see
A suggestion for the Bangor PD. If there is any rubber resisidue from the 150′ skidmark on Broadway, do a chemical analysis on the rubber composition and check to see which car it matches up with. It rained yesterday, but some bits of rubber may still be embedded in the pavement.
Even though eye witnesses have come forward, via many methods, Edwards seems to be dismissing them; indicating that they are in shock and traumatized. But yet, he goes on to say that he is still interested in speaking with witnesses, …. even though he, according to his own assessment of them, won’t take much into account. Why would someone offer him information, when he probably won’t believe you?
Since there was 3 skid marks for a long ways. (What I have seen) Why can’t they look at the tires and see if there is any flat spots on the tires???? Just wondering…