AUGUSTA — Two motorcyclists participating in a charitable ride for children’s toy donations were killed Sunday afternoon in a crash that shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Augusta.
Jamie Gross, 58, of Belmont, died at the crash site, according to a police press release. Aaron White-Sevigny, 25, of Windsor, died at the hospital. They were riding separate motorcycles.
Troopers continued to investigate the cause of the accident, which involved the motorcycles and a pickup truck and occurred between Exit 112 and Exit 113 in Augusta, just as the United Bikers of Maine Toy Run had left the Augusta Civic Center on the annual charitable ride. The motorcyclists involved in the accident were taking part in the run, among several thousand other motorcyclists, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The pickup was in the passing lane being driven by William Nuson, 67, with his mother, Anna Nusom, 99, as a passenger. The motorcycles were in the travel lane. Both were heading north, the release said.
Four other people were injured in the crash, and taken to the nearby MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta.
Trevor Proctor, 50, and Tori McGraw, 46, were sent to hospital with road rash. Both Nusoms were sent to the hospital with minor injuries.
Both northbound lanes were shut down for about two hours and police also temporarily blocked one of the two southbound lanes to allow traffic to reverse direction and enter the southbound lanes. Vehicles were also detoured off the interstate at Exit 109, south of the accident site.
One northbound lane of Interstate 95 reopened to traffic around 2:15 p.m., according to the Maine Turnpike Authority, which warned traffic delays should still be expected in that area. The second northbound lane was reopened to traffic by 4:30 p.m.
One motorcycle was on its side, as was a full-size pickup truck, near some broken guardrail on the side of the northbound lanes on the Interstate. The accident occurred a few minutes past noon.
Traffic backed up both on the interstate and in the area just off the interstate near Exit 112, on the Civic Center Drive.
Maine State Police, Augusta Police, Delta Ambulance, Maine Department of Transportation, and Augusta Fire were at the accident scene.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Police ask that anyone who may have witnessed the crash to call state police in Augusta at 624-7076.
The accident involved participants in the annual toy run. Numerous participants in the run were stopped behind the accident scene, until police routed them to the southbound lane to allow them to get off the interstate. A few were also stopped just ahead of the accident site.
The United Bikers of Maine’s annual toy run usually draws thousands of bikers, who each bring at least one new toy to donate. The toys are given to children in need across Maine. The event is in its 36th year.
Most participants rode to the Augusta Civic Center to depart around noontime for the toy run’s destination site at the Windsor Fairgrounds off Route 32. The accident occurred shortly after the run had departed the civic center and riders were entering Interstate 95 for the trip to the fairgrounds.
Police estimated less than a fourth of the approximately 3,000 motorcycles involved in the toy run were ahead of the crash, with the rest, stuck behind it, detoured onto outer Civic Center Drive to make their way to the Windsor Fairgrounds.
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
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