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Charges In Turnpike Crash May Be Weeks Away
06/29/09 4:36 pm   |   reporter: Tracy Watler   producer: Kevin King
NewsChannel 8 - Charges In Turnpike Crash May Be Weeks Away
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Miami - The Ottawa County District Attorney's Office says it may be three weeks before any charges are filed in connection with a turnpike crash that killed ten people.

The crash happened Friday on the Will Rogers Turnpike just northeast of Miami. Ten people died when a big rig driven by 76-year-old Donald Creed plowed into a line of stalled cars.

Investigators say it doesn't appear Creed was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. That means at most, he could face ten counts of negligent homicide and serve a year for each count.

One survivor tells NewsChannel 8 he will also have to live with knowing he killed ten people. Larry Smith and his wife saw the whole thing unfold.

"She hollered 'Oh my gosh' and I looked in the mirror and saw the semi coming up over the top of the cars."

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Creed was driving too fast when his semi truck slammed into the back of an SUV, knocking it into a ditch. He then continued to drive over three cars, causing a chain-reaction.

Larry Smith was car number six -- the last car in the chain.

"It looked like what you would see when they blow those caravans up in Iraq (web | news) ," Smith says. "That's what it looked like."

He was in the car with his wife, Marcie, his granddaughter and her friend. Only Marcie was hurt. She suffered a head injury that caused her brain to bruise and swell.

"We had a guardian angle looking over us," Larry says. "That's all I can think of."

It was an accident he says he'll never forget -- whole families killed. In one vehicle, a couple from Texas, their 7-year-old son and the boy's grandmother -- all dead. Larry says he doesn't know what the driver of the semi was thinking.

"He's got that on his conscience for the rest of his life," Smith says. "That he killed ten people. And, I can't imagine what that would be like."

The Missouri State Department of Revenue says Creed has been certified since 1991, just renewed his license on April first and has a clean record.

NewsChannel 8 also spoke with an official for a local trucking company who says most drivers retire in their 50s or 60s, so 76 is not a typical age for truck drivers. But, if a driver passes a yearly physical, they can drive.

Today, Associated Wholesale Grocers -- the company Creed works for -- released a statement saying "our hearts and prayers pour out to the families and loved ones of those who died in the accident, to all those who were injured, their families and loved ones, as well as our driver and his family."

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