Woman with kids in her minivan smashes into transportation workers in work zone, sending them 'over the bridge' to their deaths: Police

A woman in Maine is accused of crashing her minivan into multiple state transportation workers and killing two of them while she had children in her vehicle.

Samantha Tupper, 34, faces two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of 60-year-old James Brown and 51-year-old Dwayne Campbell, Maine State Police (MSP) announced. The defendant was also charged two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault.

Tupper was arrested and booked into the Kennebec County Jail; she posted bail after a judge lowered it to $6,500, regional CBS affiliate WABI.

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On Jan. 13 at about 9:30 a.m., Tupper was driving a gray Kia minivan on I-95 in Waterville, which is located in the south-central part of Maine. She had two young children in her vehicle, authorities said.

At the same time, Brown, Campbell and at least one other Maine Department of Transportation employee were working on the road. They had closed one lane and put up a stop sign “as part of bridge construction work.”

Authorities say Tupper “failed to stop at the posted stop sign and then attempted to enter the passing lane” of the interstate. A tractor-trailer struck her vehicle, pushing it into the work zone and hitting the three transportation workers.

“The impact propelled two of the workers over the bridge and onto Kennedy Memorial Drive below,” MSP said. Brown and Campbell were killed, and a third worker was brought to a local hospital “with injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.”

The children in Tupper’s vehicle were uninjured, though the defendant was brought to a medical center with “non-life-threatening injuries.” Authorities did not note whether the kids were Tupper’s.

The tractor-trailer driver was not injured.

It is unclear when Tupper is due to return to court.

The post Woman with kids in her minivan smashes into transportation workers in work zone, sending them ‘over the bridge’ to their deaths: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.