Man charged in McMinn County truck crash fatality
The victim in Thursday’s fatal crash in McMinn County, Tenn., involving two semitractor-trailers was identified on Friday and vehicular homicide charges have been filed against the uninjured driver of the other truck.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said 53-year-old Delano, Tenn., resident John H. Hubbard was killed when the semitractor he was driving was struck by an oncoming semitrailer that detached from a semitractor driven by 40-year-old Earnest P. Biddwell, of Decatur, Tenn.
The accident happened on state Highway 305 in west McMinn County around 8 a.m. Thursday, according to Trooper Gordon Roberts’ report.
Biddwell was driving south in a 2006 Volvo truck when his trailer detached from the tractor and traveled across the center line into the path of Hubbard’s 1997 Ford semi-tractor, which had no trailer, the report states.
The trailer collided with Hubbard’s truck, causing him to run off the road and overturn. Hubbard was pronounced dead at the scene, the report states. Both men were wearing seat belts and the trooper did not note any suspicion of intoxication.
Roberts’ report said Biddwell was charged with vehicular homicide and was cited for driving on a revoked license and not having a medical card as required for truck drivers.
McMinn County Jail records show Biddwell is also charged with failure to render aid and give information, failure to give immediate notice of the accident and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
THP spokesman Sgt. Alan Bailey said Friday the additional charges stem from the fact that Biddwell didn’t stop after the crash and didn’t have safety chains attached to his trailer.
“[H]is trailer came off the truck and he kept driving,” Bailey said via email on Friday. Biddwell continued west, and Meigs County Sheriff’s Office deputies located him and brought him back to the scene of the crash in McMinn County, Bailey said.
Biddwell, meanwhile, is being held in the McMinn County Jail on $39,000 bond, jail records state.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@ timesfreepress.com or 423-7576569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.