A tractor trailer going through a Gloucester County, Virginia intersection on Monday afternoon ran a red light, struck a Lincoln Navigator carrying a family, then kept going. By the time it stopped, it had taken out a series of utility poles and crashed into eight boats parked at a nearby dealership. It managed all of this in just a few seconds.
According to Virginia State Police, everyone in the Navigator was wearing a seat belt and was treated for minor injuries at a hospital. Somehow, the truck driver wasn’t hurt. The damage to the property the rig went on to hit, however, was significant.
He has now been charged following his indiscretion. The charge is a traffic violation rather than a criminal count. The crash itself remains under investigation by state police.
The driver’s actions ended up putting a family in the hospital and turning a marine showroom into shambles. State police identified the truck driver and worked out where the rig had been coming from. As of Tuesday, the case was still under active investigation.
What State Police Say Happened
According to the Virginia State Police, a tractor-trailer was heading north on George Washington Memorial Highway, also known as Route 17, through the Glenns area of Gloucester County, on Monday afternoon. The rig ran a red light at the intersection with Route 33 and Route 198, troopers said, and continued into the intersection.
The tractor-trailer first struck a 2011 Lincoln Navigator carrying multiple passengers, troopers said. After the collision, the rig went off the right side of the road, hit multiple utility poles and crashed into eight boats at a nearby dealership, identified by Middle Neck News as Malise Marine.
The People Involved
The driver of the tractor-trailer was identified as Sardor Ismailov of Abingdon, Maryland. Troopers said Ismailov was not injured in the crash. The occupants of the Lincoln Navigator were taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries; State Police said all of them were wearing seat belts at the time of the impact.
Ismailov has been charged with failure to obey a highway sign, according to Virginia State Police. The case remains under investigation.