Two Injured After Truck Plummets Down Steep I-80 Embankment, Catches Fire

Dylan Cyphert

Dylan Cyphert

Published November 8, 2017 5:30 am
Two Injured After Truck Plummets Down Steep I-80 Embankment, Catches Fire

SANDY TWP., Pa. (EYT) — Two people were injured after a truck barrel-rolled several times and then plummeted down a steep embankment in a three-vehicle crash Monday on Interstate 80.

DuBois-based State Police said the accident happened around 9:27 a.m. near mile marker 99.6 in Sandy Township, Clearfield County.

Casey L. Pataki, 39, of New Wilmington, was traveling east in the left lane and attempting to pass multiple vehicles when she lost control of her 2014 Jeep Patriot on the wet roadway.

Pataki’s vehicle struck the left rear of a 2005 GMC 5500 Duramax operated by David R. Wagner, 64, of Fairmount City.

The impact caused both vehicles to spin approximately 90 degrees in a forward counter-clockwise motion until Wagner’s truck slammed into a guide rail. It continued along the guide rail for approximately 85 feet before barrel-rolling multiple times down a steep embankment.

Wagner’s truck eventually came to a final rest, overturned and facing thick brush approximately 175 feet away from the initial impact.

A passenger in Wagner’s truck — 80-year-old Calvin E. Brocius of Summerville — was “dislodged from (the vehicle) through the opened passenger side door” as it came to a rest, according to police.

The vehicle’s engine compartment caught fire; however, a good Samaritan immediately doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Pataki’s vehicle continued spinning out of control until it struck a 2015 Freightliner operated by Robert A. Sprowl, 46, of Salem, Ohio.

Sprowl’s vehicle continued traveling east and eventually came to a controlled stop on the right shoulder.

Wagner and Brocius were transported by DuSan Ambulance to Penn Highlands DuBois for treatment of unknown injuries.

No other injuries were reported.

Pataki was cited for a lane violation.

Sandy Township Volunteer Fire Department, PennDOT, Bloom Towing, and Mottman Towing also assisted at the scene.

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