PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) - An Illinois truck driver faces charges in an interstate crash last year that killed a family of four from North Carolina in southern West Virginia.
West Virginia State Police Sgt. C.F. Kane tells the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that 41-year-old Bertram Copeland of Rockford, Illinois, was charged with four counts of negligent homicide and reckless driving.
Kane says Copeland was arraigned in Mercer County Magistrate Court last week and is free on bond.
Kane says a tractor-trailer driven by Copeland crashed into a vehicle along Interstate 77 last April. Killed were David and Christine Gilley of Salisbury, North Carolina, and their two children, Jack and Grace.
Mercer County Emergency Management Director Tim Farley says the southbound truck crossed the median, struck the Gilleys' vehicle, rolled onto its side and caught fire. Copeland suffered several broken bones.
Information from: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, http://www.bdtonline.com
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