Maine logging truck driver charged with manslaughter

A load of logs spilled from a trailer and struck an oncoming Department of Transportation truck, killing a 35-year-old DOT worker.

The Associated Press

5/28/2008

MACHIAS, Maine — A logging truck driver from Island Falls is being charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a Maine Department of Transportation worker last year.

Fifty-one-year-old Kenneth Slauenwhite appeared in Washington County Superior Court on Tuesday on manslaughter, elevated aggravated assault and other charges.

Prosecutors said Slauenwhite was driving a truck loaded with tree-length logs last September when he lost control while driving around a sharp curve on Route 6 in Kossuth Township.

The load of logs spilled from the trailer and struck an oncoming Department of Transportation truck, killing 35-year-old Jarrod Damon of Grand Lake Stream. Slauenwhite and a passenger in the DOT truck were injured.