A truck driver has been formally charged with multiple felonies for a crash with a bridge that killed a woman in Colorado.
The accident happened back in August of 2022 when 53-year-old Darnell Yingling was hauling an excavator north on Interstate 25 in Mead, Colorado. The arm of the excavator collided with the Weld County Road 34 bridge as the truck passed beneath it, which sent large chunks of debris crashing onto a nearby car driven by Megan Arneson, killing her. Arneson’s son was also injured in the incident.
Now, Yingling has been formally charged with vehicular homicide – reckless driving; criminally negligent homicide; child abuse – reckless bodily injury; and reckless driving. He is due in court on June 2nd, reported 9 News.
In addition to Yingling’s charges, Arneson’s family filed a lawsuit against Yingling and the trucking company, Import Towing and Recovery. The suit alleges that Yingling and the company “recklessly and negligently” failed to ensure the excavator was adequately secured for transport. The suit also claims that no one checked to make sure the excavator’s arm was lowered and secured properly before driving away, and that Yingling did not properly check that the load would fit beneath the bridge before he attempted to drive under it.
The family is seeking damages of an unspecified amount and has requested a jury trial, which has been scheduled for December.
“We believe that her violent and traumatic death was completely preventable and we want to do everything in our power to make sure that this never happens to anyone else,” Srneson’s parents said in a statement.
“I think, foremost, the family wants to know the full truth,” said Michael Kane, partner at the firm handling the suit. “And that’s why they chose to file the lawsuit at this time, is to discover the full truth about how and why this sort of thing happened. And then secondarily, to help ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”