Truck driver in Tracy Morgan crash hadn’t slept for 24 hours
The driver responsible for the crash that left comedian Tracy Morgan in critical condition had been awake for 24 hours.
Police documents say the man charged over the pile-up which left the actor injured and one man dead had been awake for 24 hours.
A tractor-trailer driven by Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Georgia, slammed into a limousine van carrying Morgan, known for his television roles on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, and his associates early on Saturday.
A criminal complaint filed on Monday said Roper was operating a truck “on the New Jersey Turnpike without having slept in excess of 24 hours”.
The driver is due to appear in court on Wednesday to face a charge of vehicular homicide and three counts of assault by auto.
Morgan sustained a broken femur, nose and ribs but is still in a critical condition and is expected to remain in hospital for a number of weeks.
Police said Roper failed to see traffic slowing in front of him on the turnpike near Cranbury Township, slamming the limo bus carrying Morgan and several other comics and friends after a performance in Delaware.
The impact flipped the Mercedes limo on its roof and caused a chain reaction crash involving four other vehicles.
Comic James McNair, 62, of Peekskill, New York, who performed under the name “Jimmy Mack,” died at the scene.
Comics Ardie Fuqua and Harris Stanton, and Morgan’s assistant, Jeff Millea, were also injured, Mr Williams said.
Roper, a Wal-Mart employee who was driving a company truck at the time of the crash, has obtained a lawyer, the company said.
Bill Simon, chief executive of Wal-Mart US said they were cooperating with the investigation.
