LARAMIE – The pileup yesterday that snagged motorists west of Laramie on the Interstate 80 was much larger than officials originally thought, and a man has been arrested for aggravated vehicular homicide in connection with the incident.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol also said today that the death tally has been upped to two from the initial one announced. Two women in separate vehicles were pronounced dead at the scene: Lynn Freeman, 58, from Williford, Arkansas and Jenay L. Breden, 23, from Westminster, Colorado.
In connection with the deaths, officers arrested Alex Dragaytsev, from Longueuil, Quebec, who was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. The man is currently at the Albany County Detention Center in Laramie.
“The decision to arrest and charge Mr. Dragaytsev was based upon evidence from the investigation and conference with the Albany County Attorney’s Office,” Sergeant David Wagener of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said in a release. “The specific evidence leading to that arrest is part of the pending criminal investigation and is not releasable at this time.”
Early estimates were also too small for the scope of the wreck. Though 21 to 40 vehicles were originally thought to be involved in the pileup, cleanup efforts after a fire burned out revealed 64 vehicles in the wreck that stretched along about a half mile of the I-80. Most of the vehicles were tractor-trailer combinations.
The incident originally occurred at about 8 a.m. when two tractor-trailers collided, sending one jackknifing across both lanes of the westbound freeway, but cleanup efforts lasted through most of Monday and the freeway didn’t reopen until 11:24 p.m.
About 20 to 25 people ended up at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie after the incident. Ten of those were taken by ambulance while the others came in via school bus or their own means. Only three of the victims were admitted to the hospital while one was transferred to University Hospital in Denver.
A 22,000-gallon tanker carrying a chemical called Butyl Cellosolve burned during the wreckage, but the hazardous materials weren’t released into the open, according to the latest update. The Highway Patrol said the hazardous materials didn’t BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) despite the fire.
Two hours prior to the accident Monday morning, which happened in thick fog on slightly slushy roads, a message sign 19 miles from the crash site read “Reduced Visibility, Black Ice and Reduce Speed.”
The post ‘Aggravated vehicular homicide’ stems from fiery I-80 pileup appeared first on Wyoming Business Report.