Beer covers interstate after tractor trailer overturns, killing NC driver, cops say
A man from North Carolina who was driving a tractor trailer full of beer died Sunday after it overturned in Maryland and dumped hundreds of cases onto the interstate, according to media outlets.
Maryland State Police said Benjamin Thomas Pula, 32, died when his truck crashed just before 7:30 a.m. Sunday near the Delaware state line on Interstate 95, the Delaware News Journal reported.
Pula is a resident of North Carolina, according to the newspaper.
A friend posted about his death on Facebook on Monday alongside an article about the wreck.
“Ben Pula, thank you for joining me for dinner Friday night and allowing me to catch up on some times past.... little did we know that you would be taken from us a few hours later,” Bradley Dean wrote. “I am thankful to have met you in this life... Rest In Peace!”
Pula was a tractor trailer operator for the U.S. Postal Service and a managing partner of Buffalo Creek Farms — a goat dairy farm — in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area, according to his LinkedIn page.
The roof of his tractor trailer split open when it overturned, the Delaware News Journal reported, blanketing the interstate with cases of beer.
According to the Cecil Whig, Pula died shortly after first responders arrived.
“Photos provided by witnesses at the scene show the cab of the truck sliced in half over the guard rail,” the newspaper reported. “The roof of the truck peeled open on impact and spread its load onto the road.”
Police are still investigating the cause, the Cecil Whig reported, but no other cars were involved.
It took law enforcement and cleanup crews hours to clear the scene.
The Delaware News Journal reported all lanes were reopened by 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
This story was originally published October 15, 2019 at 1:49 PM.
