Truck driver in I-380 triple fatal to face homicide charges
(AP) A tractor-trailer driver from Oklahoma who caused a bus crash that left three dead on a Monroe County interstate two years ago faces criminal charges, according to court records.
Franklin Wyatt, 57, is charged with three counts of homicide by vehicle, eight counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, three counts of involuntary manslaughter, 17 counts of recklessly endangering another person, and traffic citations for reckless driving, careless driving and disregarding traffic lanes.
Wyatt, a truck driver with more than three decades of experience, veered across the median of Interstate 380 in Coolbaugh Twp. on June 3, 2015, and collided with an oncoming tour bus taking Italian nationals on a holiday. The crash left three dead — Marco Fornasetti, 29, and Rino Guerra, 69, both of Italy; and the bus driver, Alfredo Telemaco, 54, of New York City. More than a dozen others were injured.
The state police filed a criminal complaint late last week with Magisterial District Judge Anthony D. Fluegel. Fluegel’s office declined to make the document available Monday because Wyatt has not yet been arraigned on the charges.
It’s unknown if authorities have arranged for Wyatt to surrender to police or if police must arrest him to satisfy the warrant. Messages left for prosecutors in the Monroe County district attorney’s office were not returned Monday.
Trooper David Peters, a public information officer for Troop N of the state police, which covers Monroe County, also declined to release the charging documents Monday, citing state police policy, and said he had no further information on the case. Typically, though, he said, such investigations can take a long time to conclude.
Though Wyatt’s court docket lists the county public defender’s office as his attorney, he has not yet applied for a public defender, so no attorney has been appointed.
Attempts to reach Wyatt were unsuccessful Monday.
The crash created a horrific scene of twisted metal, blood and death.
Pat Jacino, also a truck driver with two decades of experience, told The Times-Tribune a day after the crash that he came across the wreckage and found severed body parts and victims screaming for help.
“It didn’t even look real, you know what I mean?” he said at the time.
As the criminal investigation unfolded, civil penalties also were sought.
Ivan Galietti, an Italian-born tour guide from New York City, broke both his legs but was the only one on the bus who could speak English; he managed to interpret for the emergency medical technicians at the scene treating victims. Galietti recently settled with the trucking company, Greatwide Dedicated Transport LLC of Dallas, Texas, for $5.25 million.
Wyatt told The Associated Press six months after the crash that he learned from his doctors later that one of his arteries was almost completely blocked and that caused him to pass out and lose control of the truck. He remembered nothing of the crash or the moments leading up to it.
He did remember the nightmares.
“When you see people on the side of the road covered up with blankets, you know that ain’t good,” he told the AP. “You wake up in the middle of the night and that’s what you see.”