Tractor Trailer Driver Charged in Crash

WASHINGTON -- A truck driver will be charged with reckless driving after a tractor-trailer carrying Chick-fil-A food products crashed early Wednesday on the Capital Beltway, causing a traffic jam for hours.

Police said the traffic problems led to at least one other crash later in the morning. Minor injuries were reported.

The truck driver told state troopers he apparently fell asleep as he drove along the Beltway near Route 123 about 2:30 a.m., said Virginia State Police Sgt. Terry Licklider.

"The next thing he knew, he had flipped over on the driver's side," Licklider said.

The driver was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.

Transportation workers spent hours trying to get the truck out of the way and reopen the highway by about 7:30 a.m. But when they put the truck back on its wheels, the trailer split open, dumping boxes of cups, salad dressing packets, lemons and yogurt across the Beltway.

The scene was cleared about five hours after the accident.

In Maryland on I-95/495 after Exit 11/Pennsylvania Avenue, a fully loaded UPS tractor trailer overturned, causing delays. That accident has been cleared.

Both accidents caused delays along the Capital Beltway Wednesday morning.

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