Police: Driver Who Hit, Killed 2 Bicyclists Did Not Have Valid License

(NECN:  Lauren Collins – Hampton, NH)  Two days after the crash that killed a pair of cyclists in Hampton, New Hampshire, the Rockingham County Attorney's office confirms a criminal investigation is underway.  Jim Reams plans to meet with local police later this week to decide whether there's enough evidence to charge 20 year old driver Darriean Hess.  

“We'll try to make charging decisions if any as soon as we can after that. (That) could be anything from vehicular assault all the way to negligent homicide or manslaughter.”  

Less than 8 hours before the crash Hampton Police clocked Hess driving 59 miles per hour in that same spot.  It's a 30 mile an hour zone.  When they pulled her over in a 2002 Honda Civic, they learned she does not have a driver's license.  Police released Hess to a friend who does and gave her a summons to appear in court in October.  Reams won't comment on that, but says driver inattention played a role in the tragic accident.

“That would appear to be at least part of the problem here.  That's sort of the most benign explanation for what happened is in attention and you just have to be careful.”

That could mean anything from checking the radio to texting behind the wheel.  Seconds that amounted to life or death for Pamela Wells and Elise Bouchard

“Some distraction that shouldn't have happened can result in a really awful circumstance like we have here in Hampton,” says Reams.

Neither the New Hampshire nor Massachusetts Department of Motor Vehicles has a record of Hess in their license database.  

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