ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A semi-truck driver was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to charges in an April 2023 crash that injured two Missouri Highway Patrol troopers and a Glendale police officer.
Authorities say James L. Gibbs, 62, of Flint, Michigan, crashed his semi-truck crashed into three police vehicles blocking two lanes of eastbound Interstate 44 near South Lindbergh Boulevard at about 2:20 a.m. on April 23.
The officers were responding to an abandoned 2015 Honda Pilot that had broken down in the middle of the highway. Gibbs was driving at full speed when the crash happened, charges say.
After the crash, Gibbs admitted to investigators that he had taken another person’s prescription drugs before driving. He also “performed poorly” on several field sobriety tests, a highway patrol trooper wrote in charging documents.
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Two troopers and a Glendale officer inside the vehicles at the time of the crash were transported to a hospital with injuries. All three were released, but charges say one trooper suffered a concussion and another had serious back injuries and broken ribs.
The semi totaled both highway patrol vehicles — a 2020 Dodge Charger and a 2023 Ford Explorer. The Glendale police SUV had moderate damage, according to the patrol crash report.
Gibbs on Friday pleaded guilty to three counts of DWI resulting in an injury to law enforcement officers and one count of failing to yield to emergency vehicles.
Judge Richard Stewart sentenced him to one year for each charge, all to run concurrently. He received 305 days for time served on Friday, according to court documents.
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