The semi-truck driver who allegedly killed four people in an Illinois interstate wreck may have been driving for 12 hours before the fatal crash, officials said.
After the Monday crash killed four people, Francisco Espinal Quiroz was charged with falsifying driving logbooks to appear as if he hadn’t been working longer than what is legal.
The case comes two weeks after actor Tracy Morgan — who was critically injured when a sleep-deprived, overworked Walmart truck driver plowed into his limousine — sued the retail giant for negligence.
In Espinal Quiroz’s log, he reported his shift started at 6 a.m., but later told police he started at 2:30 a.m., the Chicago Tribune reported.
According to his confession, he had been working for nearly 12 hours before he failed to break for traffic on Interstate 55.
Federal law limits commercial driving shifts to 14 hours — only 11 of those can be spent behind the wheel.
It’s not clear how much of Espinal Quiroz’s 12 hours was spent driving.
The 51-year-old trucker was going 15 miles over the speed limit and didn’t break at all as he slammed into three cars, police said.
The wreck killed four people: 48-year-old Ulrike Blopleh, 54-year-old Vicky Palacios, 43-year-old Kimberly Britton and 11-year-old Piper Britton.
Espinal Quiroz is being held on $100,000 bond.
On June 7, Walmart truck driver Kevin Roper plowed his semitrailer into a limousine carrying comedian Tracy Morgan and his entourage. The crash flipped the limo, left the “30 Rock” star in critical condition and killed one of his friends.
Police said Roper had not slept in more than 24 hours when he crashed his truck on the New Jersey Turnpike. Traffic had slowed ahead of him, but he didn’t notice before it was too late to avoid impact.
Earlier this month, the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member sued Walmart, claiming the company was negligent when it allowed Roper to drive while sleep deprived.
Roper has pleaded not guilty to death by auto.
