Tractor-trailer driver indicted for fatal crash that killed woman on Spaulding Turnpike

DOVER — A Massachusetts man has been indicted by a Strafford County grand jury on two charges of negligent homicide in connection with a crash that killed an Alton woman about a mile north of the Dover tolls on the Spaulding Turnpike in December 2022.

Pedro Ortiz Andino, of 737 River St., Hyde Park is charged. The tractor-trailer truck he was driving crossed the center median guardrail on Route 16, striking several cars and killing Nicole Sarkis, according to New Hampshire State Police. The first indictment alleges he was using a cell phone and failed to pay attention, while the second count alleges he was driving with excessive speed and failed to control the tractor-trailer.

Sarkis, who was 59 at the time of her death, was driving a 2022 Acura.

The indictments indicate the grand jury found there is enough evidence to warrant a trial.

At the time of the crash, police said the tractor-trailer collided with the Acura and a 2016 Honda Accord after entering the northbound side of the roadway. A third vehicle struck a guardrail while moving to avoid the tractor-trailer, according to police.

The accident occurred at mile marker 6.4, according to police. The driver of the Accord sustained minor injuries.

Ortiz Andino is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 12:30 p.m. in Strafford County Superior Court in Dover.

According to Assistant County Attorney Sarah Deitelhoff, Ortiz Andino has no attorney listed currently, but at the arraignment he could request a court-appointed attorney and a bail hearing may be scheduled at the time.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Tractor-trailer driver indicted for fatal crash on Spaulding Turnpike