Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990 TAG: 9005250057
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV14 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
David L. Sprinkle Sr. of Knoxville, Tenn., was headed west on U.S. 460 in the tractor trailer when Willie Shephard Sr. of Blacksburg pulled out in front of him, police said.
Shephard's pickup truck, which was loaded with firewood, was pushed into a street sign and then into a concrete drainage ditch. The tractor trailer jackknifed and ripped up 80 feet of guardrail before flipping over an embankment.
Sprinkle was listed in stable condition Thursday in Montgomery Regional Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Shephard was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released.
Police said charges are pending.
Police and witnesses at the scene said the tractor trailer was on its way to Dayton, Ohio, after leaving Roanoke at 5:30 p.m.
The trailer was loaded with boxes of cigarettes, which spilled onto the highway and over the bank when the trailer split open in its contact with the guardrail.
Diesel gasoline poured from the truck's ruptured tanks; firefighters hosed it down to keep the fuel from reaching a nearby creek.
Traffic was slowed in both directions for about an hour.
Larry Grubb of Bristol, Tenn., also was on his way to Ohio. He was driving his tractor trailer ahead of Sprinkle's. Both men worked for Overnight Trucking in Roanoke.
"I saw a lady who pulled up behind me and said over the CB [radio] that my buddy just overturned. So I turned right back around," he said.
Grubb said it was the first time he had driven with Sprinkle. He continued on after he learned Sprinkle was not seriously injured.
Police said the tractor trailer, valued at $70,000, was a total loss.
by CNB