Kevin Roper, a 35-year-old driver for Walmart has been accused of causing a pile-up which resulted in the injury of comedian, Tracy Morgan and the death of 62-year-old James McNair. The accident occurred Saturday, June 7th on the New Jersey Turnpike. – Morgan remains in the hospital with a broken femur, leg, ribs, and nose.
UPDATE on Tracy Morgan being critically injured in a New Jersey crash. http://t.co/dixvAyPkMC Photo: @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/gZ8OYFULfl
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 7, 2014
Court documents allege that Roper had been driving without sleep for over 24 hours at the time of the accident. It is believed that Roper had begun to doze off, and failed to see traffic slowing ahead of him – at which time he rear-ended the Mercedes limo-bus carrying Tracy Morgan. One of the most disturbing details of this case is a recent update to the biography of a twitter account: @Kevinmoneytalks that allegedly belongs to Kevin Roper. The message read: “Trying to win more than lose! Driving trucks for a living it’s my road move or get hit! #Walmart.”
@Walmart I demand that you release a statement and tweet an apology on behalf of your truck driver @Kevinmoneytalks. pic.twitter.com/tobn3tEdrU
— 804 Street Media (@804StreetMedia) June 9, 2014
The quote has since been removed, and the profile privatized. Although a friend has confirmed Roper’s association with the twitter account, a Walmart spokesperson has declared otherwise, claiming that Roper does not use social media.
Roper turned himself in to authorities, and was later released on a $50,000 bond.
Roper appeared in court on Monday, June 9th to face charges of ‘vehicular assault’ and ‘death by auto.’
We’ve mentioned the importance of social media privacy before. We’ve also stressed the potential consequences of neglecting to exercise professionalism on social networks. The harsh reaction of the general public towards the driver (allegedly) involved in this accident due to the tasteless post on the twitter account in question is no surprise – and a prime example of an unprofessional post turning around to bite the (alleged) author later on.
Sources
804 Street Media
DailyMail
NY Daily News
TMZ
Reliable News Update