Interstates shut down due to weekend crashes
Both interstate 80 and 81 were closed down for periods of time over the weekend due to crashes during the inclement weather. The Packerton Dip was closed for a time Saturday afternoon because of a crash and other incidents were reported in the area.
Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County needed to be closed for about four hours on Saturday when a tractor-trailer crashed at 9:01 p.m. due to the inclement weather conditions.
State police at the Frackville barracks said Erisbel D. Morales Alvarez, 45, of Houston, Texas, was driving the 2018 Volvo rig northbound during a snowfall event in which the roads became slippery.
Police said the driver lost control of the tractor-trailer, which began to sway and fishtail, traveling off the right side of the travel lanes and striking the guide rail. Police said the rig continued north, scraping the railing for about 70 feet, at which time the cab jackknifed in a clockwise manner and the trailer slid across both lanes of traffic, blocking them. The rig came to rest with its cab facing south against the right guide rail.
Police said Morales Alvarez and a passenger, Ramon Ramirez Hildalgo, 31, of Miami Gardens, Florida, were not injured.
The driver was cited for failure to drive at a safe speed, police said.
Interstate 80 in Tunkhannock Township was closed for over an hour after a four-vehicle incident at 3:51 p.m. Saturday.
Police said it happened during inclement, slippery conditions when a 2002 Freightliner operated by Lipowski Krzysztof, 50, of Easton, was traveling too fast for conditions and the operator could not stop the rig before it collided with the right rear of a 2015 GMC Acadia being driven by Robert R. Fornini, 51, of Parsippany, New Jersey.
Police said the rig then made contact with a 2017 Freightliner operated by Hardy W. Brian, 40, of Bethlehem, which was stopped on the right shoulder of the road. A fourth vehicle, a 2019 Kenworth driven by James B. Naugle, 37, of Everett, Colorado, could not stop in time and collided with the side of Krzysztof’s rig and the rear of Brian’s vehicle.
Police said Fornini sustained suspected minor injuries and was transported to the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono, East Stroudsburg, by the Tobyhanna Ambulance. He was the only person hurt in the incident.
Three of the four vehicles were towed from the scene.
Police said Krzysztof was cited for failure to drive at a safe speed.
