A truck driver accused of causing two deaths on Interstate 95 in Stafford early July 5 has been charged with two felony offenses.
Wheelman G. Andrews, 59, of Carrollton, was indicted by a Stafford grand jury on two counts of involuntary manslaughter, along with a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. Prior to Monday, Andrews had only been charged with a misdemeanor.
The charges stem from an incident on I-95 near the Centreport Parkway. Virginia State Police determined that Andrews was heading north in a 2022 Freightliner tractor-trailer about 4:40 a.m. when he moved from the center lane to the right lane.
He struck a Nissan Altima driven by 50-year-old Jonathon L. Booth of Fredericksburg. The impact forced both vehicles into the left lane, where the tractor-trailer collided with a Subaru driven by 67-year-old Kevin Paddeu of Quinton.
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All three vehicles then crashed into a guardrail on the left side of the highway, and the 50,000-pound truck landed on top of both the Altima and the Subaru. Both Booth and Paddeu were pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash caused that section of the interstate to be shut down for much of the day.
The ensuing investigation turned up no signs of intoxication on Andrews’ part, but prosecutor Philip Chichester decided to seek the felony charges anyway. Chichester said that Andrews bypassed certain safety features in making the lane change, and as a trained professional should be held to a higher standard than a normal motorist.
Andrews was released on an unsecured bond following the crash and had not been arrested on the new charges as of Monday evening.
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