Driver responsible for “catastrophic chain of events” will not be charged

A truck driver responsible for a “catastrophic” chain reaction crash that killed three will not face criminal charges, officials say. 

Back in September, 70-year-old James Crager crashed into a line of stopped vehicles on Interstate 69 in Indiana after failing to notice the traffic “until it was too late.” The incident killed Dale E. Lowe, 81,  Jean E. Lowe, 72, and William Heil, 65. Police did not find Crager to be impaired at the time of the incident, and did not cite Crager for any traffic violations. 

“Most other drivers did see this hazard, but inattentiveness alone is not a crime,” said DeKalb County Prosecutor Claramary Winebrenner to AP News.

“The decision to bring criminal charges cannot be based on emotion,” she continued, “but rather on the hard evidence of the wrongfulness of the operator’s conduct.”

“[The driver’s conduct] must be more than just a mistake, or negligence, which is generally handled by a civil suit between the parties.”