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Trucker indicted in fatal wreck Date published: 3/17/2009
BY KEITH EPPS The truck driver involved in a fatal crash on U.S. 17 in Stafford last month was indicted yesterday by a county grand jury. James Edgar Smith, 58, of Gwynn in Mathews County, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving and defective equipment. Susan Lee Haines, 57, was killed Feb. 2 at the intersection of U.S. 17 and Poplar Road when a 2000 Peterbilt tractor with attached trailer ran a red light and crashed into her vehicle just before 10 a.m., police said. The tractor-trailer was missing front-brake parts, according to affidavits for search warrants filed in Stafford Circuit Court. It was carrying a load of sand and weighed about 83,000 pounds at the time, court records state. The rig was owned and operated by Smith, police said, and had "James E. Smith Trucking" on its side. Stafford Deputy Lee Peters wrote in one of the affidavits that Smith had dropped off the brake parts at a business prior to the accident, indicating that he knew he was driving with defective equipment. Peters wrote that Smith refused to turn over maintenance records for the truck, so he got the warrant for maintenance records from Smith's home and business office in Gwynn. Peters wrote that the driver denied knowing that the front brakes were inoperative. Peters said he wanted maintenance and inspection records and logbooks to determine if the vehicle had been properly maintained. He also wrote that he needed the truck's engine computer data-recording device to determine the speed of the rig because there were no skid marks at the scene. Peters also seized nine medication bottles. It was not clear yesterday exactly what police learned from the items that were seized. Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Murda was the case that they gave him
. . . MURDER!
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