4 dead after wreck on Interstate 85 in Charlotte at University City Blvd
By Jodie Valade and
Mary Ramsey
N.C. Highway Patrol officers investigate a fatality along I-85 South near the University Pointe Blvd overpass on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. Four people died in the wreck that closed I-85 South at University City Blvd.
JEFF SINER
jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Four people died in a car wreck on Interstate 85 near Exit 45 in University City on Tuesday night, MEDIC reported.
The victims have been identified as Edwin Garcia, Arthuro Garcia, Miguel Portillo and Kevin Turcios, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol. The wreck happened around 4:38 p.m.
NCSHP Master Trooper Robert Rogers said the four men were riding in a pickup truck towing a utility trailer when they crashed into a disabled dump truck in the roadway in the far-right travel lane. The vehicle caught on fire following the impact, he said.
The crash is under investigation, Rogers said.
I-85 South was closed at University City Boulevard for more than five hours Tuesday. No additional injuries were reported, according to MEDIC.
N.C. Highway Patrol officers investigate a fatality along I-85 South near the University Pointe Blvd overpass on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. Four people died in the wreck that closed I-85 South at University City Blvd. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Before the interstate reopened, CMPD added that drivers should “expect significant delays on secondary roads in the area” as officers are “directing motorists to alternate routes.”
“The best routes around the wreck would be taking WT Harris Blvd. to N. Tryon St., to the 85 Connector. or WT Harris to Mallard Creek Rd, to N. Graham Street to I85.”
N.C. Highway Patrol officers investigate a fatality along I-85 South near the University Pointe Blvd overpass on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. Four people died in the wreck that closed I-85 South at University City Blvd. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Reporter DJ Simmons contributed.
This story was originally published January 10, 2023 at 5:59 PM.
Jodie Valade is a former Planning and Enterprise Editor at The Charlotte Observer. She has also worked at WFAE as a digital editor, and freelanced for publications such as The Athletic, The Washington Post and The New York Times. She was a longtime, award-winning sports features and enterprise reporter at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. She also worked at The Dallas Morning News covering the Dallas Mavericks — where she became Mark Cuban’s lifelong email pen pal — and at The Kansas City Star. Support my work with a digital subscription
Mary Ramsey is the local government accountability reporter for The Charlotte Observer. A native of the Carolinas, she studied journalism at the University of South Carolina and has also worked in Phoenix, Arizona and Louisville, Kentucky. Support my work with a digital subscription
