BY STACI WILSON
Three people are dead after a driver traveling north in the southbound lane of Interstate 81 crashed his pickup truck into a minivan Saturday night in Harford Twp.
Driver of the Chevrolet Silverado, Brooks Lee, 44, of Binghamton, N.Y., was killed in the crash, along with two of the eight occupants of the Kia Sedona, according to police.
Police said the cause of Lee’s death was multiple traumatic injuries. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
Police released on May 11 the names of two occupants in the van that were killed: Sandra Caicedo and Clemencia Caicedo, both of Equador.
Both were passengers, seated in the middle row of the vehicle and died from multiple traumatic injuries.
Passengers Emiliano Caicedo, of Queens, N.Y., sustained serious injuries and was taken to Geisinger CMC, Scranton; and Flor Carte, of Queens, N.Y., was seriously injured and transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley for treatment.
Other occupants in the Kia Sedona were also injured and take to area hospitals for treatment: driver Oscar Caicedo, of San Francisco, Calif., Patricia Caicedo of Equador, Andrea Caicedo of Queens, N.Y., all sustained moderate injuries and were taken to Geisinger CMC for treatment and later discharged.
A 13-year-old male of Queens, N.Y., sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from Geisinger CMC.
According to police, while in the southbound passing lane, Lee’s truck struck the van in a head-on collision.
The pickup truck rotated counter-clockwise and came to a final rest facing north in the median.
The Sedona also rotated counter-clockwise and came to rest facing south in the southbound travel lane and shoulder.
According to police, one 911 call was placed at 10:57 p.m. stating a white, pickup truck was traveling north in the southbound lanes near milemarker 211.
Another 911 call was placed one minute later, at 10:58 p.m., alerting emergency officials of a crash on I-81 south, at milemarker 215.9.
In an updated release from police on Wednesday, May 11, a receipt found in Lee’s vehicle showed he was at a McDonalds in Hallstead at 10:09 p.m., prior to the crash.
A witness observed the pickup truck traveling south on I-81 near milemarker 217. Another two witnesses told police they observed the Silverado stop in the southbound lanes and execute a “k-turn” and travel north in the southbound lanes just north of Exit 211 (Lenox).
From a download of the airbag control module, Lee was traveling at 62 mph at the time of the crash with no braking prior to the head-on collision.
Toxicology is pending and the investigation by police is continuing.
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