LEWISTON — Police were investigating two motorcycle crashes Monday night in Lewiston and Bridgton that left two men dead and two other people injured.
The Lewiston crash happened at 6:49 p.m. on Lisbon Street in front of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Witnesses said an elderly woman was pulling out of the restaurant lot onto Lisbon Street when her car was hit by a man on a motorcycle.
The man died at the scene. The woman was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Lewiston Police Lt. Mark Watson said the dead man had not been positively identified.
People near the crash scene said they heard the motorcycle going fast, then heard the crash.
“It sounded like a cement truck hit a building, that’s how loud it was,” said Sandra Nelligan of Louise Avenue. The impact shook her building. Nelligan came out of her home and saw the man lying on the ground on his stomach. She described him as in his late 20s or early 30s. His helmet was a few feet away. The woman in the green Subaru who was pulling onto Lisbon Street was slumped and appeared unconscious, Nelligan said.
Some rescue personnel turned the man over and performed CPR while others helped the woman in the vehicle.
Kim Roy, who works at Professional Piercers of Maine, said she saw the crash happen. Roy said she was helping a customer to their car when she saw an elderly lady pulling out.
“The motorcycle was coming down and smacked the driver’s side,” Roy said. “It was a big bang. People ran over to see if he was OK. The ambulance got there quickly.”
Emergency personnel tried to revive him. she said. “It happened really fast.”
John and Shari Gosselin of Lucille Avenue were out for a walk when they heard the crash.
“We could hear him opening the bike up, just wind it,” he said. “Then all of a sudden we heard a crash. We were on the scene before there were any ambulances.”
“We got up here and we saw this,” Shari Gosselin said, looking at the scene. The dead man was covered and still in the road. The sedan driver’s door was smashed in. The blue Yamaha lay on the road.
Neighbors complained about speed on that stretch of Lisbon Street, from the light at Dunkin’ Donuts to the turnpike. “They top that hill” and pick up speed, Gosselin said.
Nelligan said the tragedy was preventable. “This is not Oxford Plains. This is Lisbon Street.”
In Bridgton, police officer T.J. Reese said a man from Massachusetts died after he stood on the seat of his Harley-Davidson, waved his arm and crashed on Route 302 near McDonald Motors.
The 40-ish driver died at the scene, Reese said. His name was not being released until next of kin was notified.
Reese said, “He stood up on the seat of his bike, was waving one hand in the air, and lost control of his bike and fell to the ground.”
Harley-Davidson rider Marjorie Loonie, 45, of Melrose, Mass., was also injured in the crash, the investigator said. She “was driving behind him when he lost control. He was tumbling down the road. When she tried to avoid him she lost control of her motorcycle as well.”
Neither was wearing a helmet.
Loonie was taken to Bridgton Hospital and then flown to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, the officer said. A nursing supervisor said Loonie was still being evaluated at 10:20 p.m.
The two motorcyclists were among four leaving the Trailside Restaurant at about 5:25 p.m., Reese said, with the man who died leading them north on the highway.
Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department investigators were conducting the accident reconstruction, Reese said. The crash remains under investigation.
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