A Texas truck driver, Alan Kegel, 57, was sentenced Tuesday to 3-6 years in prison for killing another truck driver on Interstate 81 earlier this year.
On January 13. 2017. Kegel claims that he fell asleep at the wheel causing him to sideswipe another truck. The accident occurred near Mechanicsburg Exit of I-81 in Silver Spring Township. Pennsylvania.
The driver that was killed, Zivko Lakic, 24, of New York, was standing next to his truck on the roadway when his truck was sideswiped. The incident occurred sometime between 3:15 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
Lakic was struck and killed.
According to police record, Kegel said he pulled over further up the interstate to check on his truck but continued to a truck stop, where he pulled off to report the incident before going to sleep. He later said that he didn’t think the incident was a big deal.
He explained later he knew that he sideswiped the truck because debris flew into his cab and shattered his passenger side window and mirror, according to ABC 27.
He also claims that he was unaware that he struck a person.
The only reason Lakic was located was because Lakic’s company reported that they could not get in contact with him. He was later found laying the roadway.
Investigators said the Kegel’s truck had bodily fluid on the front passenger side tire and metal step area “indicative of striking a pedestrian.”
Kegel pleaded no contest to a homicide by vehicle charge in September. He was sentenced 3-6 years in prison at a hearing in Cumberland County Court.