Gov. Candidate Hit Motorcycle Already Lying In Turnpike: Lawyer

TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP, PA — An accident that left 30-year-old motorcyclist Logan Carl Abbott dead on Thursday involved a vehicle whose driver is a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor.

As Pennsylvania State Police continue an investigation of last week's fatal motorcycle accident on the PA Turnpike in Tredyffrin Township, the attorney of the driver involved in the accident has said his client did not cause the accident.

The client is Charlie Gerow, a Republican political strategist, and a candidate for PA governor. Gerow was driving a vehicle that struck the motorcycle after it had already crashed with another vehicle and was knocked into a lane of travel, according to a statement from Gerow's West Chester attorney, Joseph P. Green Jr.

"The preliminary information suggests that a motorcyclist was involved in a collision with another vehicle before Mr. Gerow came upon the scene and before his vehicle had contact with the motorcycle, which was lying in the travel lane of the Turnpike," Green stated.

"The Chester County Coroner Christiana VandePol, MD has reported that the motorcyclist was fatally injured on the Turnpike when he collided with a truck. There is no evidence that Mr. Gerow struck the motorcyclist or that Mr. Gerow struck an operating motorcycle," the statement from Green added.

Green said his client was not impaired. “When interviewed by the State Police as a witness to the accident, he voluntarily gave a blood sample which will unequivocally prove he was not driving impaired."

The Chester County Coroner's Office said in a news statement Friday that Abbott, of Bradford County, died in a motorcycle crash with a truck on the PA Turnpike on Thursday.

VandePol's news statement said Abbott was driving a motorcycle that collided with a truck near mile marker 320.5 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Chester County. The collision site was in between the Pennsylvania Turnpike exit to US 202 at mile marker 324.5 and Exit 312 at Pottstown Pike and US 322 in Tredyffrin Township.

Gerow's attorney said, "Mr. Gerow was heartbroken to learn that the driver of a motorcycle was fatally injured and is praying for him and his family."

Gerow is Vice Chairman of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) who began his political career on Ronald Regan's campaign staff, according to his campaign website.

Pennsylvania State Police Troop T in King of Prussia is still investigating the fatal crash.

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