AFTER FIVE HOURS OF DELIBERATION, JURORS STILL UNDECIDED ON FATE OF TRUCKER CHARGED IN DOUBLE-FATAL CRASH IN PENNSYLVANIA

AFTER FIVE HOURS OF DELIBERATION, JURORS STILL UNDECIDED ON FATE OF TRUCKER CHARGED IN DOUBLE-FATAL CRASH IN LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Firefighters work to free a victim trapped in an overturned car after a crash on Route 222 in Manheim Township in this file photo from 2012.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Lancaster County, PA:

 

After more than five hours of deliberations Monday, jurors still haven’t decided the fate of a trucker charged with causing a double-fatal crash in 2012.

The jury panel is deliberating following three days of testimony in the trial of 24-year-old Mawuyrayrassuna E. Noviho.

Noviho is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide for allegedly pulling onto the highway - at an extremely slow speed and without lights - into the path of Katie West's car.

West's Volkswagen collided with the truck, killing her husband, Joshua West, and their 2-year-old son Joshua "Charlie" West.

Deliberations began about 2 p.m. Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth sent the panel home at 7:30 p.m.

They will resume Tuesday morning.

While asking Ashworth questions on the law Monday evening, the foreman indicated the panel is split.

“We believe we are closer in our understanding of the facts of the case,” the foreman, in his 40’s, told the judge about 6:30 p.m. “We are still split, however.”

Prosecutors allege that Noviho, on a training license, was driving at 17 mph at the time of the collision.

Two eye witnesses, traveling behind the West car, testified that they didn't even see the truck until the collision, which flung the Volkswagen into the air, eventually landing on its roof.

First Assistant Todd E. Brown, in a closing argument Monday afternoon, said the time between the truck appearing on the highway and impact was "almost instantaneous."

Noviho's defense team revealed during testimony that Katie West had heroin in her system at the time of the crash.

In fact, a toxicologist testified, she used heroin an hour or two, at most, before the crash.

"Things don't just appear out of the darkness," defense lawyer Robert Daniels argued in closing, suggesting West passed out at the wheel. "We know she used heroin after she picked up her kids."

Mrs. West and her 4-year-old daughter survived the crash.

Brown countered in his closing that even a sober driver couldn't have avoided the slow truck.

"The heroin," he said, "it doesn't matter. There's no proof that, if she was high, it caused the crash."

Jurors began deliberations following closing arguments and Ashworth's instructions on the law.

Noviho, who was driving for Utah-based C.R. England, is free on unsecured bail.

 

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LOSE POWER IN CLEVELAND, OHIO AFTER A DELIVERY TRUCK STRUCK A POWER POLE

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LOSE POWER IN CLEVELAND, OHIO AFTER A DELIVERY TRUCK STRUCK A POWER POLE

Monday, January 26, 2015

CLEVELAND, OHIO:

Power was knocked out for a large section of Liberty County on Monday after a truck accident.

As of 6:32 p.m., nearly 6,900 customers were left in the dark.

A delivery truck struck a power pole about 2:45 p.m., causing shortages for thousands of people in Cleveland, officials said.

It wasn't known if there were any injuries from the wreck or the power loss.

Officials said the power should be restored to the area around 6 p.m.

A FIRE DESTROYED 14 HOUSE BOATS AT THE WALNUT GROVE MARINA MONDAY MORNING IN CALIFORNIA.

A FIRE DESTROYED 14 HOUSE BOATS AT THE WALNUT GROVE MARINA MONDAY MORNING IN CALIFORNIA.

Monday, January 26, 2015

WALNUT GROVE, CALIFORNIA:

Although approximately 14 boats burned at the Walnut Grove Marina early this morning, destruction could have been much worse if one flaming watercraft had continued to drift toward a fueling station.

The fire broke out about 12:10 a.m. Monday at the marina along Snodgrass Slough next to the small Delta community of Walnut Grove. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Walnut Grove Fire District Assistant Chief Mark Van Lobensels said several boats were fully-involved in flames when firefighters arrived.

Flames were licking up through the covered slips, with the slips collapsing under the intense heat. Propane tanks were exploding and smoke was being blown by a heavy wind.

“This is one of the largest and one of the trickiest fires in recent years because of the separation between land and docks,” Van Lobensels said. “We had one boat where the ropes burned through and it got out of containment. It started floating towards the larger slips and fuel docks.”

Luckily, the current brought the boat close enough that firefighters could pull grab it with poles. Once close enough, water was poured on the flaming boat.

“It could have been much worse,” Van Lobensels said.

Cosumnes Fire Battalion Chief Paul Zehnder said firefighters snaked hoses down the docks to fight the blaze, at one point drawing water from the slough.

“They were able to untie some of the boats and move them out of the way to prevent the fire from continuing to spread,” he said.

Dennis Fay, who sells boats at the marina, was sleeping when he and his wife heard a large bang. They went outside and saw boats two or three slips away fully engulfed in flames.

“It was just red-hot,” he said.

He untied his boat and motored it out into the river to escape the flames. He stayed there, taking pictures of the spreading fire.

“It looked like a forest fire,” he said on Monday. “It was burning like crazy.”

The blaze was stoked by the flammable nature of the boats: fiberglass, propane tanks, fuel and the belongings and furnishings in the houseboats. Many of the houseboats are only used during the summer and are not occupied during the colder months.

The couple called 911 and telephoned an employee at the marina to try to get boats away from the marina. But the fire was burning so intense they could not get close, flames even melting the metal overhanging shelters for the watercraft.

“These big boats are tall, these 65-footers were just a few feet from the top of the roofs, he said. “It was melting everything.”

The Fays live on a houseboat at the marina, 1400 Old Levee Road. About a half dozen other boats are similarly occupied by residents.

A total of about 300 boats were in slips Sunday night, said Fay.

“Most of them are houseboats, the majority in the 50 to 60 foot range,” he said. “There’s no telling how it started. And I don’t think they will ever find out because the boats were burned to the waterline.”

The fire brought firefighters from stations around the region: Walnut Grove, Courtland Thornton and Cosumnes River Fire District.

A LUMBER TRUCK CRASHED DOWN AN EMBANKMENT OF OFF TWIN BRIDGES ROAD ON HIGHWAY 50 AND BURST INTO FLAMES. DRIVER WAS INJURED.

A LUMBER TRUCK CRASHED DOWN AN EMBANKMENT OF OFF TWIN BRIDGES ROAD ON HIGHWAY 50 AND BURST INTO FLAMES.  DRIVER WAS INJURED.

January 26, 2015

Twin Bridges, California

A lumber truck crashed down an embankment of off Twin Bridges Road on Highway 50 Monday morning.

The driver was able to get out of the truck cab and walk away from the scene before the truck burst into flames, the California Highway Patrol said. The driver was taken to the hospital for treatment; his condition is unknown.

Firefighters were able to contain the flames before they spread.

Caltrans said Highway 50 was down to one-way traffic after the crash, which happened around 4:50 a.m. CHP said fire trucks were blocking the roadway as crews worked to contain the fire.

Around 8:30 a.m., CHP said it will continue one-way traffic control on eastbound Highway 50 until about 5 p.m. as crews clear out the truck.