Davidson man killed when trucker plowed into a car stuck in I-77 traffic, trooper says
A Davidson man died Monday night on Interstate 77 South in Lake Norman when a tractor-trailer driver failed to slow for stopped traffic and plowed into his car, a State Highway Patrol trooper said Tuesday.
Patrick Calhoun Mays, 66, was pronounced dead at the scene, Master Trooper Jeffrey Swagger said.
Calhoun was in the front passenger seat of a Ford Focus when the car was hit near Langtree Road exit 31 in southern Iredell County about 6 p.m., Swagger said.
Rebecca Mays, the 56-year-old car driver, and a 15-year-old passenger were injured and taken to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, according to the trooper. Their conditions weren’t available Tuesday.
All three in the car had seatbelts on, Swagger said.
Oleg Polishchuk, the 52-year-old tractor-trailer driver from Harrisonburg, Virginia, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and failure to reduce speed, Swagger said. He was given a $15,000 secured bond.
Polishchuk wasn’t injured, Swagger said.
The wreck shut the highway for three hours as troopers investigated.