Jacob Diaz Screenshot from video
An Augusta man charged in a Route 4 crash that killed a Fayette woman just before Christmas was arrested again Monday and charged with criminal speeding.
Jacob Diaz, 24, was being held without bail Tuesday after Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Miller spotted Diaz driving at a high rate of speed on College Road in Greene. He was charged with criminal speed and violating conditions of release.
Diaz is also facing a charge of manslaughter, a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, in the Dec. 11 crash that claimed the life of 79-year-old Carol Ivers, a Fayette woman who had been delivering Christmas gifts when her car was struck.
Investigators said at the time of the crash that Diaz had been driving at more than 107 mph on the wrong side of the road as he raced another driver. Diaz, police said, appeared to have been passing a tractor-trailer at a high rate of speed when he slammed into Ivers’ car as she pulled onto Route 4 from Upper Street.
The second driver, Curtis Randy Fogg, 34, also faces manslaughter and five other charges after he was indicted by an Androscoggin County grand jury.
Ivers was dead when rescue crews arrived. Emergency crews found those undelivered Christmas presents scattered among the wreckage.
Diaz has denied the charges against him, which, in addition to manslaughter, include reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and aggravated driving to endanger.
At a hearing in April, Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Harold Stewart II lowered Diaz’s bail from $100,000 to $10,000 cash but imposed strict conditions on his release. Diaz was allowed to continue driving to work and other specific destinations.
Diaz is expected to be in court Wednesday to face the latest charges.
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