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Tractor-Trailer Driver Charged For Causing Fatal Chain-Reaction Crash On I-70: MD State Police

A truck driver from Georgia who got behind the wheel of his tractor-trailer while intoxicated is facing charges in Maryland for causing a fatal five-vehicle crash in Washington County.

Maryland State Police

Maryland State Police

Photo Credit: Maryland State Police

Ray Pittman, 62, was arrested on Thursday night after setting off a chain-reaction crash that resulted in the death of 27-year-old Hagerstown resident Morgan Suter.

Investigators say that shortly after 5 p.m. on Oct. 3, Pittman was driving his tractor-trailer in the westbound lanes of I-70 near Beaver Creek Road when he failed to slow down in heavy traffic and struck the back of Suter's Ford.

The Ford then struck the back of a Buick, which then ping-ponged into a Mercedes and Honda on the interstate.

Suter was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Buick, West Virginia resident Cheri Craigo, 55, and Honda, Connie Monte, 61, of Hagerstown, were both taken by paramedics to Meritus Medical Center for treatment of undisclosed injuries.

The truck driver from Milledgeville, Georgia was charged with: 

  • Two counts of vehicular manslaughter;
  • Homicide by motor vehicle;
  • Two counts of driving while impaired.

He is being held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center.

The crash led to lane closures on I-70 for several hours during the investigation.

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