Updated report: Driver in Berwick fatal van hit and run comes face to face with family, judge

ALFRED, Maine — The man police are saying hit and killed Berwick resident Deborah Archer on May 27 with his van came face to face with her family Tuesday morning during his arraignment at the York County Courthouse. Jason Brooks, 26, of 7 Spring Road in Saco, Maine stood before the judge today to hear his charge, which is a Class C misdemeanor charge for leaving the scene of an accident. Brooks struck Archer on Route 9 in Berwick while she was walking her two dogs and drove from the scene to Portland Glass in Somersworth, N.H. While Brooks, his family and his defense attorney, Walter Smith, refused to comment today upon leaving the courthouse, the Archer family, who turned out more than 20 strong for the arraignment, had plenty to say. “It was very very difficult,” said Nichole Archer-Winship, Deborah Archer's daughter, about... [read full story]