KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An Orlando-area truck driver has been indicted by a Tennessee grand jury in a crash that severely injured a Tennessee state trooper.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and failure to drive within a single lane were returned against Eric D. Lewis.
Police said Lewis fell asleep while driving a tractor-trailer truck on Interstate 40/75 in western Knox County on March 14, 2012. The truck slammed into a Tennessee Highway Patrol cruiser in which Sgt. Lowell Russell was filling out paperwork. The car was parked on the shoulder and the emergency lights were operating.
A passing ambulance crew and Lewis pulled Lowell from the burning car.
Lewis was driving for FSH Trucking in Orlando. WATE reports that Lewis and his co-driver, Cleotha Nickles, are from Orlando.
