- From: abcnews.go.com
ABC US News | ABC International News
Tracy Morgan Screamed for Help After Crash, Limo Driver Recalls
ABC US News | ABC International News
Comedian Tracy Morgan screamed for help after the limousine bus he was
riding in was involved in a fatal multi-car crash on the New Jersey
Turnpike, his driver recalled.
The crash early Saturday killed one man on the limo bus and injured four others, including Morgan, 45.
"I climbed around and heard Tracy screaming for help," said his driver,
Tyrone Gale. "I climbed up on the body of the limo bus ... but I
couldn't reach them."
N.J. State Police said they believed a truck driver was dozing and
didn't see traffic slowing in front of his 18-wheeler until it was too
late, crashing into the vehicle carrying comedian Morgan and his
entourage.
"I just remember the impact ... We didn't know which way was up, which
way was down. I don't know if we flipped several times or one time,"
said Gale. "I saw the condition of everybody and I knew it would just
make it worse if I tried to pull them up and out of the vehicle."
The truck driver, Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Ga., was charged with
one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto. He
surrendered Saturday night and was released from jail, according to the
Middlesex County Department of Corrections.
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1 Killed, 4 Injured in Crash
James McNair, a passenger on board the limo bus with Morgan, was killed
in the crash, police said. He was comedy writer for Morgan.
Morgan, his assistant, Jeff Millea, and Ardie Fuqua were listed in
critical condition, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital spokesman
Peter Haigney told ABC station WABC. Harris Stanton, another comedian,
was treated and released.
Morgan's rep, Lewis Kay, said his family was with the comedian and "he is receiving excellent care."
The group was returning from a performance of his "Turn it Funny" tour in Dover, Del., Friday night.
"A great show in Dover, a lot of excitement going home," said Gale.
"Tracy was holding his baby before we left and he said, 'I'm holding my
princess.'"
The Chain Reaction Crash
The six-vehicle crash happened in the northbound lanes at mile marker
71.5 about 1 a.m. Saturday, according to N.J. State Police.
The crash was a chain reaction caused by the first truck, a Peterbilt
with Oklahoma plates, New Jersey State Police Sgt. First Class Gregory
Williams said.
When the driver of the truck suddenly became aware of the Mercedes
Sprinter limo bus in front of him, he swerved left to avoid it, but
struck the limo bus in the rear and then hit another vehicle, Williams
said.
The limo bus carrying Morgan lost control and began rotating clockwise
and then turned over onto its left side. While it was out of control,
the limo bus hit a Buick, which crashed into a Ford F150 pickup truck,
and another tractor-trailer.
The truck that caused the crash came to rest on the left shoulder after hitting a guardrail.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway told ABC
News that the NTSB is dispatching a team to investigate the crash along
with the N.J. State Police.
The NTSB is going to focus on the "broad issues concerning commercial
traffic safety," and is expected to be on the ground by this evening or
Sunday, Holloway said.
Morgan has four children, including a daughter to whom his fiancee Megan Wollover gave birth last July.
WRECKTEAM DOPE
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