Several truck drivers have recently been involved in highway incidents, including a trucker who was shot and killed after he attacked a police officer with a screwdriver, a driver caught attempting to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S., and a trucker who was found dead in his truck at a gas station near Richmond, Kentucky.
A North Carolina-based truck driver was shot and killed by a police officer in Sugarcreek, Ohio, on Wednesday, June 26, after he attacked the officer with a screwdriver, according to a report from the Times-Reporter.
The report states that 32-year-old Elijah Collins III was being issued a citation by Sugarcreek Police Capt. Brian Dalton for damaging property after driving into an area where trucks are prohibited.
Body camera footage from Dalton shows that he was writing the citation and explaining to Collins that he would need to appear in court when Collins grabbed a screwdriver out of the side pocket of the door and stabbed Dalton twice in the neck. After a brief scuffle, a series of about a dozen rapid gunshots can be heard. In the video, Collins appeared calm before he lunged at Dalton.
The Times-Reporter report states that Dalton did not need surgery and has been discharged from the local hospital.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Arizona, found 33 people being smuggled inside a trailer. (U.S. Customs and Border Patrol photo)U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested a truck driver on July 2 for human smuggling after they found 33 foreign nationals hidden in his trailer at the I-19 Immigration Checkpoint in Nogales, Arizona.
Agents referred a 2002 Freightliner tractor and reefer trailer for secondary inspection, and a search found the 33 immigrants in the trailer from Mexico and El Salvador. The group included 12 juveniles aging from 3 to 17, a pregnant female and a convicted felon.
The interior of the trailer was nearly 100 degrees, CBP says, and the reefer unit was not turned on.
The 37-year-old driver was arrested and charged with felony human smuggling violations in a federal complaint. The 33 people being smuggled were taken into CBP custody and will be processed for immigration violations.
Police in Richmond, Kentucky, are conducting a murder investigation after a truck driver was found dead in his truck at a Shell gas station on July 2.
An initial investigation from police found that 58-year-old truck driver Abdul R. Muzaki parked his truck at the gas station on the corner of Kentucky Highway 627 and U.S. 25 on the evening of July 1. Kentucky State Police say an incident occurred overnight, and Muzaki was fatally injured. KSP asks that anyone who saw any suspicious activity at the Shell station at exit 95 between the hours of 9 p.m. on July 1 and 5 a.m. on July 2 to contact KSP at 859-623-2404.
