WEST NEWBURY — A local man has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a June collision with a motorcycle that killed a Haverhill couple.
This week, Alan T. Pearsall, 42, of 563 Main St., West Newbury appeared for a clerk's hearing in Newburyport District Court to determine whether there is sufficient evidence and reasonable cause to move forward with the criminal charges. The court decided Pearsall, owner of Pearsall Art and Design, will be arraigned on Sept. 8 on two counts of vehicular homicide, marked lanes violation and failure to drive in the right lane of the road.
On June 25, Earl Morris, 63, 659 Primrose St., Haverhill was riding a 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with his wife, Maryella Morris, 63, on the back when a gray Toyota Rav4 driven by Pearsall stuck them on Bachelor Street, according to court documents.
Bachelor Street is a narrow back road in West Newbury with two lanes and lots of hills and curves. The road does not have a formal shoulder, making it difficult to pull over.
Morris was pronounced dead at the scene. Maryella Morris was MedFlighted to Boston, where she later died.
According to police reports, the accident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. when Pearsall left the northbound lane of Bachelor Street to drive around a bicyclist riding along the shoulder of the road. Pearsall entered the southbound lane of traffic, where he struck the motorcycle.
"Mr. Pearsall said he was traveling north driving home from his brother's home in Boxford," the police report stated. "He had gone into the other lane to get around a guy on a bicycle he said."
According to a scene reconstruction, police found Pearsall had left his lane and was traveling head-on into the southern lane where his car came to rest after striking the motorcycle. According to court documents, Pearsall's wheels were turned as if he were attempting to swerve back into the northbound lane at the time of impact.
"Mr. Morris apparently saw and reacted to the Toyota in his lane," the accident reconstruction report said. "He was unable to evade the Toyota, and it appears he laid the motorcycle down on its left side in efforts to protect himself and his wife."
According to the report, the Toyota struck the right front of the motorcycle and sent the Morrises into the air backward. Earl Morris died instantly of a head injury caused by the impact of the crash. Maryella Morris died from internal injuries and head injuries. Both had several broken bones. The state's medical examiner's office has ruled their cause of death as "accident."
Both the Morrises were wearing helmets.
In the police report, witnesses state Pearsall was heard saying at the scene, "I was in my lane, it wasn't my fault." Pearsall was later heard saying, "I only crossed the line for a minute to avoid a bicycle."
During questioning, Pearsall told police he did not see the motorcycle until it was a foot in front of him and according to reports was "shocked" when police told him he was in the other lane of traffic.
According to the report, when police questioned Earl Morris' daughter, she noted her father had been riding a motorcycle for decades and had even gone cross country on his motorcycle several times.
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