Police in talks with DA to determine if charges should be brought forward

The crash occurred at the intersection of Portland and South Main streets; inset Micahael Collins (Courtesy)

ROCHESTER - It's been nearly six months since a Rochester man was killed in a downtown motorcycle accident, but the case is very much alive and charges against the driver of the other vehicle are still possible, Rochester Police said today.
Michael Collins, 54, died on Aug. 19 when his 2010 Harley Davidson FLHTC collided with a 2016 Toyota Corolla being driven by Kimberlee Raymond, 22, of Rochester, around 7:40 p.m,
Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham told The Rochester Voice today that police are consulting with an accident reconstruction team and the County Attorney's Office to determine their next move.
About a month after the crash police revealed they had verified what witnesses to the crash had said: that the lights for South Main Street traffic were blinking yellow, while Portland Street was blinking red.
According to police, Collins was traveling on South Main Street headed north toward Central Square, while the Toyota had turned from Charles Street onto Portland Street by the Service Credit Union drive-thru and was headed straight through the light to continue on Portland Street in the direction of Windjammers restaurant.
Pinkham also confirmed in September that stoplights for South Main Street traffic were blinking yellow, while the Portland Street traffic lights were blinking red, indicating Collins had the right of way.
In a curious twist in the case, an invoice from the company that maintains Rochester's downtown traffic lights indicates that work was done on a malfunctioning stoplight at the corner of South Main and Portland streets on Aug. 19, the same day Collins was killed at the intersection.
The invoice was obtained by The Rochester Voice following a Right to Know request filed with the City of Rochester last month.
The service date on the invoice is accurate, according to an Electric Light Co. technician who told The Voice in January that they worked on the light on Aug. 19 and that it was fixed "before dusk," which occurred that evening around 8:11 p.m., according to sunrise-sunset.org
The technician, who did not want his name published because he is not an official spokesperson for Electric Light Company Inc., of Cape Neddick, Maine, said he got the call about the light blinking instead of running solid in the afternoon and "fixed it the same day."
The Rochester Voice has also asked for documents regarding the contract between the City of Rochester and Electric Light Co. Inc. but Rochester Attorney Terence O'Rourke has said there is none, because the city's Request for Proposal served as the de facto contract.
O'Rourke also previously confirmed that there were no emails regarding the malfunctioning light between DPW staff, City Manager Katie Ambrose and any other City of Rochester personnel during the day of Aug. 19.
Documents earlier obtained by The Rochester Voice show that the stoplights at the intersection of Portland and South Main streets were reported blinking around 11 a.m. on Aug. 19, more than eight hours before the fatal crash.
A couple of minutes after the first call another caller into dispatch said the lights were blinking and it will "cause an accident."
Later, around 1:40 p.m. Rochester's DPW advises police dispatch that the lights will remain in flashing mode till the "light company" can come out to fix them.
The stoplights are normally solid, not blinking; police dispatch notes indicate that the malfunction was due to an electrical issue.
The state DOT maintains most traffic lights throughout New Hampshire but several cities, including Rochester, manage their own downtown stoplights, a DOT official said.