AUBURN — A local man accused of striking and seriously injuring a jogger while driving a motorcycle in September 2021 was charged Wednesday with a felony crime.
An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted Mason Perez, 28, on one count of driving to endanger resulting in serious injury, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
He also was charged with operating a motor vehicle beyond class restriction, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
Perez was cresting a hill on South Witham Road on a 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle on Sept. 23, 2021, at about 5 p.m. when he struck 52-year-old Tyrone Fulgham, police said.
A witness said a group of golfers from Fox Ridge Golf Club attempted to render aid to Fulgham until emergency crews arrived.
Fulgham suffered what police described as a serious, life-threatening injury to his leg, and was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, a spokesman said.
Fulgham, who had been training for an upcoming marathon, lost his leg after surgeons advised him it needed to be amputated as a result of his injuries.
Perez was not injured in the crash.
As part of an investigation into the incident, Auburn police reconstructed the crash site, with help from Lewiston police.
Police said a witness reported the motorcycle driven by Perez had been speeding at the time of the crash. He had apparently lost control of the bike and laid it down on the roadway before it struck Fulgham.
Perez was charged with driving a motorcycle without a proper motorcycle license and failing to produce evidence of insurance, police said.
Fulgham is a member of a local running group and is well-known for his participation in local marathons and fundraisers.
In February, Fulgham told the Sun Journal he had implored Perez to call 911 and instructed a golfer who had come to his aid how to tie a tourniquet around his leg in an effort to lessen his blood loss.
Fulgham has physical therapy twice a week and occupational therapy twice a week. He goes to the gym three days a week, mainly working on his upper body.
He has recently been fitted for a prosthetic leg.
“I do have my prosthetic leg and I am working real hard to get used to it,” Fulgham said Thursday.
“Right now I’m walking with a cane mostly but I am starting to practice to walk without it. It’s slow progress but I am way ahead of my expected goals so it’s going good. Still a long road ahead but it looks very promising.”
Fulgham said he is ready to forgive Perez.
“One of my friends asked me the other day if I could forgive him. I said I could forgive him if I thought he had an ounce of remorse,” Fulgham said Thursday.
Perez told the Sun Journal last month that he hadn’t seen Fulgham until the “last second, went to swerve and lost control” of his motorcycle.
He said he feels bad about what happened to Fulgham.
Since that incident, Perez was charged with driving with a suspended license and later, was involved in a single-vehicle crash in Lewiston that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Police said “speed and impairment” are believed to be factors in that crash, which remains under investigation.
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