Trucker was streaming Netflix on phone when he crashed, killing Maine couple, cops say

A trucker who drove a tractor-trailer involved in a double-fatal crash on the Maine Turnpike last year was streaming Netflix in the cab of his truck, according to records obtained by news outlets.

The Portland Press Herald was the first to report that court records

show the trucker, David Herring, who is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of Geoff and Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Gattis, had a show about teenage magicians playing on his cellphone at the time of the crash.

Herring’s attorney, Robert Andrews, said his client was not actually watching the show when his truck crashed into the Gattis’s car, which had slowed down in front of him on the Maine Turnpike.

“The state has tried to make it look like he was watching TV while he was driving, he was not,” Andrews told McClatchy News. “He was very clear that he was not.”

According to a police report published around the time of the crash on Jan. 12, 2021, Herring failed to recognize that traffic in front of him had slowed and crashed into the back of a Lexus being driven by Geoff Gattis with Elizabeth Gattis in the passenger seat. The force of the impact pushed the Lexus into another truck in front of it, crushing the car and killing Geoff and Elizabeth Gattis, both 68, according to the report.

Herring acknowledged he had a show streaming on his cellphone but said he was not watching it, only listening to the audio, according to The Associated Press.

Andrews said his client was not distracted by the audio, but by a car in front of his truck that almost came to a complete stop and then pulled off an exit ramp.

“He was distracted by that car pulling off, and when he turned forward to what was in front of him, it was too late for him to come to a complete stop,” he said.

Andrews said Herring is remorseful but that the circumstances of the crash aren’t sufficient for a criminal charge.

“My client feels awful, how could he not,” he said.

The victims were a retired couple from Falmouth, Maine, according to the Portland Press Herald. The city is about 55 miles southwest of Augusta.

Herring pleaded not guilty at his first court date in September, according to the Portland Press Herald. Andrews said he is going to file a motion to dismiss the charges.

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Trucker was streaming Netflix on phone when he crashed, killing Maine couple, cops say."