Candidate for governor says he did not cause fatal crash

HARRISBURG — Charlie Gerow, a Republican who announced his candidacy for governor last month, said Friday that he is cooperating with a police investigation into an accident in which a motorcyclist was killed, and that he did not cause it.

Pennsylvania State Police have released little information about the accident Wednesday night on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, saying only that it involved a motorcycle and a car that a spokesperson for Mr. Gerow has identified as Mr. Gerow’s.

The turnpike was closed for seven hours after the accident in the westbound lanes in Chester County, just west of the King of Prussia interchange, police said in a news release.

In a statement, Mr. Gerow said he “looks forward to the State Police completing their investigation and is confident that the investigation will confirm that he was not the cause [of] the accident.”

Mr. Gerow said he has been advised to not discuss the matter further until the investigation is complete.

Mr. Gerow, 66, runs a communications and marketing firm in Harrisburg with offices two blocks from the state Capitol, where he is a familiar face.

Before he announced his candidacy in June, Mr. Gerow had toured the state GOP’s event circuit for months, speaking to audiences as a potential candidate. This is Mr. Gerow’s first statewide campaign after running unsuccessfully for Congress and the state Legislature in the past.