Driver charged after 3 workers killed at NC interstate construction site

Three highway workers were killed when a box truck plowed into a parked vehicle in an Interstate 40 construction zone in Iredell County early Thursday, according to the State Highway Patrol.

The state contract workers were assisting with a lane closure on I-40 westbound near mile marker 157 in the Statesville area. The wreck happened shortly before 3:30 a.m. and the interstate was shut down for more than five hours.

The victims were identified as Noah Logan Hamilton, 22, of Bonaire, Ga.; Austin Milton, 21, of Jesup, Ga.; and Dustin Gelinas, 20, also of Jesup. All were working for a repair crew identified as DBI Services.

The driver of the box truck, 27-year-old Logan Lee Casey of Cary has been charged with three counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle. Casey suffered minor injuries.

Alcohol didn’t appear to play a role in the crash, the Highway Patrol said.

Drivers were detoured onto U.S. 64 until the interstate reopened at about 9:15 a.m., according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Guard rail work

The victims were part of a crew working on a guard rail along I-40, Master Trooper Jeffrey Swagger told The Charlotte Observer.

The workers were standing between two construction vehicles when the box truck struck one of them, pinning them between the two vehicles, Swagger said. They were killed on impact, the trooper said.

Casey failed to reduce his speed before hitting the truck, according to the Highway Patrol. Why the truck driver hit the construction vehicle is not yet clear.

“It appears there were warning lights and signage in place,” Swagger said.

It’s the second fatal wreck involving road crews in recent months locally.

In October, a woman drove into an area where an overnight road crew was working outside Concord Mills mall in Concord. She killed 50-year-old Socorro Maya Martinez of Graham and the wreck sent three other workers to trauma centers, the Observer reported at the time.

Martinez was part of a crew from Cruz Brothers Concrete who were improving Concord Mills Boulevard near entry A of the mall when they were hit about 1:45 a.m., police said in a news release.

Police charged 22-year-old Danyel McKenzie Middleton of Concord with felony death by vehicle.

Statewide work zone deaths

Across North Carolina, 32 people died in work zone crashes in 2018, according to the latest available N.C. Department of Transportation figures. From 2012 to 2018, some 173 people died in 35,600 work zone crashes, according to the DOT.

Drivers and their passengers account for most North Carolina work zone deaths, with 10-to-15% being road construction workers, bicyclists and pedestrians, N.C. highway officials say on ncdot.gov.

Speeding and such driver distractions as cellphones, texting, radios and too many passengers cause many of the wrecks, as well as inattentive and aggressive driving, according to the department.

This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 8:29 AM.