One Bangor man has been indicted in connection with a car crash that killed another on Route 9 in April.
James Allen Nile Jr., 21, led police on a chase from Hancock County into Washington County after an officer observed that Nile’s car had “mechanical defects” as it sped by in the wrong lane, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department said at the time. A sheriff’s deputy got Nile to pull over and stop, but only briefly as Nile then sped off east on the highway in an attempt to get away, according to police.
John Branscomb, 39, was a passenger in the vehicle and died when it crashed in Wesley at the end of the chase, police have said.
Nile was indicted Thursday by a Hancock County grand jury on felony charges of eluding an officer, driving to endanger and causing death while license suspended or revoked. The eluding and causing death charges are each considered Class B offenses that, with a conviction, could each result in a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The driving to endanger charge is a Class C offense that carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Nile and two other passengers fled the crash scene on foot but were apprehended over the next 16 hours and then given medical attention, police said. At the time, Nile was on probation for a burglary conviction, police said.
