Candidate for Governor Says He Did Not Cause Fatal Accident

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Charlie Gerow, a Republican who announced his candidacy for governor last month, said Friday that he is cooperating with a police investigation into an accident in which a motorcyclist was killed, and that shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike for seven hours.  The Associated Press is reporting… Gerow apparently drove for several miles with the motorcycle stuck to the front of his car, according to a witness. In a statement through a spokesperson, Gerow said he did not cause the accident and he was not injured.  Pennsylvania State Police have released little information about the accident Wednesday night just before 10 p.m., saying only that it involved a motorcycle and a car that a Gerow spokesperson identified as the one Gerow was driving.

The turnpike was closed for seven hours after the accident in the westbound lanes in Chester County, just west of the King of Prussia interchange, police said in a news release.  The Chester County coroner’s office identified the victim as Logan Carl Abbott, 30, of Bradford County. The cause of death is multiple blunt impacts and toxicology tests on the victim are pending, Chester County Coroner Christina VandePol said.  It is not clear whether other vehicles were involved, or how the accident happened.  A highway construction worker told Spotlight PA/The Philadelphia Inquirer that he was working on the turnpike’s eastbound lanes Wednesday night when he saw a Mercedes pass by with a motorcycle wedged into its grill.  The worker, Nicholas Forgette, who works for a traffic control company in Pottstown, said sparks were flying from the car and that it was traveling at a high rate of speed. He and his crew, he said, watched in disbelief.

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