A fatal crash on I-95 in Clinton last week happened after the driver fell asleep while coming back from a drug deal in Massachusetts, according to court documents.
Tyler Hewitt, 31, of Presque Isle, is charged with one felony count each of leaving the scene of an accident involving death and causing death while license suspended or revoked. Hewitt was allegedly driving a U-Haul that crashed into a tree before 7 a.m., Nov. 25, killing the passenger, John Perkins, 38, of Hampden.
After the crash at Mile Marker 138, near the Hinckley Road exit, Hewitt ran from the scene, police said. He was arrested two days later when police found him emerging from woods near I-95.
He had his first appearance Monday in Kennebec County Superior Court.
Hewitt told police he fled the crash because he had more than a pound of methamphetamine and other drugs in a backpack, according to a probable cause affidavit. He was arrested with that backpack and police said it also had crack cocaine and suspected fentanyl.
The day before the crash Perkins was driving to Massachusetts to buy drugs and invited Hewitt along, he told police. They drove all night and Hewitt took over after Perkins started to fall asleep, according to the affidavit.
During the drive the pair stopped somewhere in Massachusetts to hand off the drugs around 1 a.m., Nov. 25, Hewitt told police.
Hewitt fell asleep while driving and woke up as they were in a ditch about to crash into a tree, he told police. Hewitt said he did not want to get Perkins in trouble and left with the drugs, the affidavit said.
Hewitt’s license is suspended and he had active suspensions throughout the last decade, the affidavit said.
While police investigated the crash, they learned the U-Haul had been rented through deception by an unknown woman who did not match the driver’s license presented to the Bangor location, the affidavit said.
The woman whose name was on the license had lost her physical copy a couple months earlier, the affidavit said. The address provided did not go to a specific apartment and the phone number did not belong to the woman whose ID was used, according to the affidavit.
Hewitt is held in the Kennebec County Jail.
