COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. — The driver of a semi-truck involved in a Tennessee train derailment that left two train workers injured in December 2022 has been charged.
Collegedale Police arrested Jorge Luis Cruz-Vega, 64, of Martinez, Georgia, and charged him with failure to yield, a registration violation and felony reckless endangerment.
The train hit the truck, which was carrying a 134-foot concrete truss bridge beam, last month as it sat on the tracks waiting for a traffic light to change. The collision pushed three locomotives and 10 railroad cars off the tracks, creating what the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management called “a disastrous mess” in Collegedale, a suburb of Chattanooga.
Vega did not make sure the tractor-trailer could completely clear the tracks before driving over them and did not contact Norfolk Southern Railroad about his delivery route, a police investigation found.
He attempted to clear the tracks when the crossing arms activated, but was unsuccessful, officials said.
The Trucker Staff contributed to this report.
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