Patten motorcyclist dies after crash on Route 159 in Crystal

CRYSTAL – A Patten man is dead after a motorcycle accident on Route 159 in Crystal on Thursday evening.

Sgt. Forrest Dudley of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department said Friday that the accident that killed Carroll Miller, 57, occurred at 5:40 p.m.

According to Dudley, Miller was traveling west on his motorcycle when he failed to make a turn on Route 159. The bike careened into a ditch.

Patten Ambulance took Miller to Houlton Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The accident remains under investigation, with the case being overseen by sheriff’s Deputy Mike Montpetit, according to Dudley.

Montpetit was assisted at the scene by Dudley, Deputy Mitch Wheeler and Maine State Police Troopers Carman Lilley and Dennis Quint.

This is the second fatal motorcycle accident to occur in Aroostook County in the past week.

Last Saturday evening, Hamlin resident Carl A. Morrow, 44, died at Cary Medical Center after a crash in Township 17 Range 3.

Authorities said Morrow and a friend were riding on a multiuse trail in the township at around 3 p.m. when the accident occurred about two miles west of the Lake Road crossing.

Morrow was operating a 1988 Yamaha motorbike when he passed his friend on the trail.

Soon after he pulled in front of the other driver, Morrow lost control of his bike and crashed.

He was wearing a helmet, and investigators estimate he was traveling at 50 mph at the time of the crash.

Morrow was taken to the hospital, where he died a short time later.