Posted on 07/02/2011 7:43:08 PM PDT by Former Fetus
DURHAM -- State troopers say the driver of a tractor-trailer was under the influence of marijuana and methadone when his vehicle caused a crash on Interstate 40 that killed three people Thursday.
Ronald Eugene Graybeal, 50, is in the Durham County jail after being charged with driving while impaired and three counts of felony death by vehicle.
Graybeal, of 306 Elena Lane in Newport, Tenn., is a convicted rapist and burglar, according to court records.
He was driving a truck owned by an East Tennessee company that has been cited for dozens of violations related to fatigued drivers and unsafe driving, according to federal inspection records.
The accident killed the drivers of three other vehicles: John Paul Llanio, 38, of Kannapolis; Barbara Boda Caldwell, 64, of Mebane; and Gary Dwayne Smith, 45, of Burlington.
Emergency workers transported a fourth motorist, Reginald Keith Thompson, 49, of Greensboro, to Duke Hospital, where he was treated for injuries not considered life-threatening, said 1st Sgt. Jeff Gordon, a Highway Patrol spokesman.
Troopers searching Graybeal's truck found the drugs and drug paraphernalia, Gordon said.
Graybeal's tractor-trailer was traveling west on the interstate, near the U.S. 15-501 overpass, when it collided with a Ford F-250 pickup truck driven by Llanio. The tractor-trailer then crashed into a 2008 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Caldwell.
After that, the tractor-trailer slammed into a car that burst into flames. The car, burned so badly that troopers could not determine its make and model, was occupied by Smith, Gordon said. The tractor-trailer continued on before striking a truck that was driven by Thompson, Gordon said.
Graybeal is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, Gordon said.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/07/02/1316002/drugs-found-in-drivers-truck.html#ixzz1R0NqigCc
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
That’s what all the dopers say
I've also had to help a friend cope with the knowledge that she killed someone because she was drunk and got behind the wheel. Let me tell you, that is something that I wouldn't wish upon anyone.
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