A Harpswell resident and former state lawmaker has been indicted on manslaughter and other charges in connection with a fatal crash at a Brunswick intersection in December.
Jeremy Saxton, 45, was charged on Friday with manslaughter, aggravated driving to endanger, aggravated criminal mischief, and criminal speed, according to a Brunswick Police Department news release issued Monday. Criminal speed indicates a driver was going at least 30 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Saxton is a former Democratic member of the Maine House of Representatives, having served from 2012 to 2014. According to police, he was arrested Saturday in Harpswell on a grand jury warrant. “He was transported to the Cumberland County Jail, where he posted a $10,000 cash bail,” the release said.
A Yarmouth man died in the two-vehicle crash on Dec. 11 after pulling into the path of a truck driven by Saxton, according to police. Saxton was driving a 2019 Chevrolet pickup west on Pleasant Hill Road just before 11 a.m. when Donald Harding, 75, entered the roadway from Baribeau Drive in a 2013 Ford Edge, Brunswick police said.
Harding’s vehicle collided with Saxton’s pickup, police said, and Harding died at the scene. Saxton was uninjured. Both drivers were wearing seat belts, and both vehicles’ airbags deployed. Police said Monday that the charges resulted from an investigation and reconstruction of the crash.
Attempts to reach Saxton for comment were not immediately successful.
