A motorcycle driver is dead and a truck driver is facing charges after a crash on Thursday night in northern Vermont, according to state troopers.
Fifty-three-year-old Christopher Ryea of Enosburg was driving east on Shawville Road in Sheldon, when he was hit by an oncoming pickup truck that crossed the center line, troopers said. Ryea was pronounced dead on scene.
Less than a minute prior, a state trooper tried to stop the pickup truck because it had a tail light out, authorities said, alleging that the driver of the truck "accelerated rapidly from the cruiser" before crashing into the bike.
The driver of the truck has been identified as 45-year-old Jason Combs of Enosburg. Combs was arrested after allegedly running from the scene of the crash, and is now facing charges that include grossly careless and negligent operation with death resulting, driving under the influence and attempting to elude.
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Combs was taken to Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town and is expected to have an arraignment Friday afternoon.
An investigation is ongoing, and preliminary evidence suggests that speed and impairment were factors in the crash, troopers said.
