This is a case that may open Pandora’s box and leaves a lot of questions floating in the air.
River Grove truck driver Josef Slezak was traveling along Interstate 80 through western Nebraska, 40 miles from the Wyoming border, when he crashed into cars that were stopped for an earlier accident that had occurred because of a stalled truck.
Slezak’s truck hit the stopped Mustang, pushing it into a Toyota Corolla. The Corolla was then pushed under the truck.
“The Ford’s driver and an adult and two juveniles in the Corolla all died. Authorities haven’t identified those victims, but court documents say both those cars were owned by the same couple,” Omaha.com reported.
Omaha.com reports that the woman driving the Corolla was 30 weeks pregnant and that the two children who died were ages 2 and 3.
During the first accident, one person died, 27-year-old truck driver Keith Johnson who had ran into a stalled semi. After Slezak’s truck hit the cars, four others died. The Associated Press reported that witnesses at the scene say the truck did not appear to have slowed down before the impact.
“The first crash caused traffic to back up on the interstate, and other truck drivers told investigators there was constant chatter about the accident on the citizens band radio as drivers warned each other to slow down. According to court documents, Slezak told investigators that he never listens to the CB and that he didn’t see anything before hearing a crash,” Omaha Today reported.
Slezak was taken in for questioning but had to have an interpreter, because he was from the former Czechoslovakia Republic.
Slezak was arrested and charged with four counts of manslaughter and four counts of motor vehicle homicide. He remains in jail on a $1 million bond.