WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA —A Camden man is in an Indiana jail facing charges stemming from a crash on Interstate 70 on Thursday, July 9, which claimed the lives of four children and left a father hospitalized.
Corey Withrow, 31, was arrested in the case. Indiana State Police said Withrow was driving his semi truck while under the influence of drugs, which contributed to the crash.
The fiery crash on I-70 involved a car and two semi tractor-trailers Indiana State Police said.
Police said those killed in the crash were four children from Missouri: 15-year-old Anesa Acosta, 13-year-old Quintin McGowan, 8-year-old Brekkin Bruce and 6-year-old Trentin Bruce.
ISP reported all four victims were in the passenger car. The driver of the car was identified as 34-year-old Aaron Bruce, of Kansas City, Missouri.
Withrow’s online Preble County Common Pleas Court records show previous drug convictions in Preble County, the most recent an aggravated possession of drugs charge which resulted in a conviction in March 2019.
According to reports, Withrow faces four counts of reckless homicide, four counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and one count of operating while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury.
Officials reported Withrow “was driving erratically and speeding in a construction zone.” I-70 was closed for several hours after the crash before reopening Friday morning.
Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the crash shortly after 5:05 p.m. last Thursday in the eastbound lanes of I-70 just west of the State Road 1 exit.
An initial investigation found a 2004 Kenworth semi tractor pulling a loaded box trailer was eastbound when it came upon traffic that had slowed to merge into the left passing lane for a construction zone. “The Kenworth failed to slow down and hit a Chevrolet passenger car in the rear that was slowed in the right lane, pushing it forward into the left rear corner of a semi trailer which was also in the right lane directly in front of the passenger car,” ISP reported in a press release. “The first semi continued pushing the passenger car into the left lane and eventually off onto the berm of the left lane where the two vehicles burst into flames. A passerby was able to pull the driver of the passenger car out of the vehicle, but none of his passengers.”
Aaron Bruce was taken to an Indianapolis hospital with severe injuries, officials said.
Withrow was able to escape his burning truck with non-life-threatening injuries according to reports. He was taken to Reid Hospital hospital in Richmond. Thomas Flaherty, 57, of Springfield, was reported as the driver of the other semi.
