2 Winterport brothers die in separate crashes

PROSPECT – Two brothers were killed in separate crashes Saturday, one on a motorcycle and the other while driving a van.

According to Trooper Steve Hills of the Maine State Police, Adrian Basford, 52, of Winterport was killed when the motorcycle he was operating left the road. The crash was reported at about 5:30 p.m.

Basford was traveling north on Route 1A, Hills said, riding with another motorcyclist. The two men were believed to have been heading back to Winterport after running errands, he said.

Basford was traveling much faster than the other man, the officer said, leaving his friend far behind on the road. No one witnessed the crash, but Hills said witnesses reported seeing Basford passing vehicles on the right, and passing others at a high rate of speed.

Basford came into a curve approaching Frankfort and crossed the southbound lane, traveling across grass, a driveway and then striking an embankment. He was thrown from the motorcycle.

“He may have been going too fast into the curve. [The motorcycle] bounced all over the place,” Hills said. The speedometer on the bike was stuck at 66 mph, he said.

An EMT who came upon the crash pronounced Basford dead at the scene. Basford was not wearing a protective helmet, Hills said.

The trooper met Basford’s brother Wallace Basford at the scene of the crash, he said.

Later that night, Wallace Basford, 48, also of Winterport, was killed in a crash near the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

According to a statement issued by the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office, Basford was traveling west across the bridge in a 1991 Ford van, and “failed to negotiate a left turn after leaving the bridge.”

The van crashed into a rock ledge wall. Basford was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash, which was reported at 11:58 p.m., is being investigated by Deputy James Greeley.