Ohio truck driver sentenced to prison for fatal crash on Interstate 70 in South Huntingdon

An Ohio truck driver will serve up to two years in prison for causing a fatal crash along Interstate 70 that left a New Stanton man dead and severely injured two motorists .

Charles C. Walker, 59, of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty in December to charges of vehicular homicide, aggravated assault by a vehicle and other traffic-related offenses in connection with the Oct. 21, 2020 crash in South Huntingdon that left 27-year-old Dillon Walton dead and two people from New York injured.

Police said Walker was driving a tractor-trailer that rammed into the rear of Walton’s vehicle as it sat in traffic on the Matthew Smelser Memorial Bridge. Dillon, a lineman for West Penn Power Co., was en route home from attending a coworker’s funeral at the time of the fatal rear-end collision.

According to defense attorney Ernest H. Sharif, Walker fell asleep as he drove the 27-ton truck for Sewing Collection Inc., a Vernon, Calif.,-based manufacturer of garment and packaging supplies.

Police said Walker’s truck first hit a vehicle in which Matthew and Melissa Krackowieki of New York were riding, then slammed into the rear of Walton’s car and propelled into the back of another tractor-trailer.

Walton was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Krackowiekis sustained injuries including fractured spines that required surgery, according to police reports.

“I’d like to apologize to the family for the unfortunate incident that happened. It was nothing I intended to do and it was just a bad accident,” Walker said.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Walker to serve one to two years in prison and an additional four years on probation.

“For the family this is heartbreaking and I hope they can find peace,” Feliciani said.

Walton family attorney Mike Ferguson said a wrongful lawsuit filed against Walker and his employer filed in 2021 in Westmoreland County is still pending. A federal lawsuit against Walker and Sewing Collection Inc., filed on behalf of the Krackowiekis, also is pending.