CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A garbage-truck driver who drove into the path of a train carrying Republican members of Congress has been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence, police in Virginia said Friday.
The Jan. 31 collision, just outside of Charlottesville, killed a co-worker of the driver, injured several other people and rattled the lawmakers as they headed to a retreat at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
A grand jury indicted Dana W. Naylor Jr., 31, on one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of maiming another while driving under the influence, the Albemarle County Police Department said in a statement Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear what the alleged intoxicant was.
One trash company employee, 28-year-old Christopher Foley, was killed in the collision. A second passenger and several others were injured.
Court records show Naylor was indicted Monday. They don’t list an attorney for Naylor who could comment on his behalf. The indictments were still being processed Friday, and Naylor was not yet in custody, said Madeline Curott, a police department spokeswoman.
Multiple attempts by The Associated Press to reach Naylor have been unsuccessful.
According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, witnesses told investigators the truck entered the railroad crossing after the safety gates had come down. The report said data taken from the camera on the Amtrak train showed that as the crossing came into view, the gates were down and the trash truck was on the crossing.
Three people who live near the railroad crossing told AP that the safety gates, which are designed to come down to warn drivers of approaching trains, were known to frequently malfunction, sometimes staying down for extended periods of time even when no trains were coming.
The preliminary NTSB report said investigators “continue to examine issues related to the highway-railroad grade crossing.”
Boyd McCauley, the founder of the trash company, Time Disposal, previously told AP that Naylor was a longtime employee who was familiar with the railroad crossing, which is located at an intersection at the top of a hill where visibility is limited.
McCauley did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Online court records show Naylor has a history of motor vehicle infractions dating back to 2008, including driving an uninspected vehicle, failing to display license plates, having an improper exhaust system and failing to wear a seat belt. The infractions appear to be related to maintenance and inspection of his vehicles, not moving violations.
He was also convicted of possession of marijuana in 2011 and resisting arrest in 2009.
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