The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Report: 20-year-old killed in crash was student at Georgia
Wreck closed I-20 for approximately 10 hours near I-285.
The 20-year-old killed in a tractor-trailer crash that blocked I-20 for hours was identified as a University of Georgia student, the Red & Black student newspaper in Athens reported.
William Aaron Whitaker of Carrollton died Thurs- day night in the fiery crash that shut down the inter- state between I-285 and Fulton Industrial Boulevard for about 10 hours, AJC.com previously reported.
Whitaker was a sopho- more exercise science and athletic training student, according to an obituary on the Hightower Family Funeral Homes website. AJC. com has reached out to UGA to confirm Whitaker was a student.
Mario Vilan Polier, 53, of Hialeah, Fla., faces charges of improper lane change, following too closely and second-degree homicide by vehicle in connection with the incident.
Polier’s tractor-trailer over- turned onto its passenger side while traveling on I-20 East around 7:30 p.m., crashing into a concrete barrier between the eastbound and westbound lanes, Georgia State Patrol said. Debris from the concrete barrier went into the westbound lanes, striking two vehicles.
One of those vehicles was Whitaker’s, who died at the scene, GSP said. Three other people were also injured in the crash, but their conditions were not released.
The deadly wreck shut down all eastbound I-20 lanes and all but one westbound lane Thursday night, and it brought traffic to a standstill on I-20 back to Thornton Road, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Polier is in the Fulton County Jail on a $35,000 bond, according to Fulton County Jail records. He also has a hold placed on him by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.