Texas man identified as I-70 crash victim
A Texas man has been identified as the driver killed Thursday afternoon when he crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 near the Taylorstown exit.
Joshua Hopkins, 23, of Austin, was driving east on I-70 near the 10-mile marker in Buffalo Township about 1:30 p.m. when his car for unknown reasons crossed over the grassy median and crashed into the westbound commercial rig, Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said in a press release.
Hopkins, who was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, was pronounced dead at the scene, Warco said. The cause and manner of his death is pending an autopsy, Warco said.
No one else was in his car and no other vehicles were involved in the crash.
The trucker, whose identity was not released by state police, suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
The westbound lanes of I-70 between the Taylorstown and Claysville exits were closed for about three hours while state police investigated the crash and the wreckage was removed from the scene.
Fire departments from Taylorstown, Claysville and North Franklin – along with members of Washington County Department of Public Safety and medics from Washington County Ambulance and Chair – assisted state police at the scene.