MORGANTOWN — Interstate 79 northbound was closed for about an hour Tuesday morning causing traffic to back up for 10 miles after a woman lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a tow truck loading another vehicle.
The accident happened about 10 a.m., Chief Deputy Al Kisner of the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department said.
Alan Ward, a tow truck driver for Ervin’s Auto Repair & Towing, was loading a vehicle onto his flatbed wrecker on the left hand side of the road when Shereese Smith, 29, lost control of her silver Saturn and crashed into the rear of Wald’s truck near the 145 mile marker, Kisner said.
Smith was stuck in her vehicle and had to be cut out by emergency workers, he said. She was taken to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Kisner said. He said she appeared to have a broken leg.
Smith’s passenger, Vanetla Smith, 44, did not need to be cut from the car and did not have any injuries.
Ward was taken in a personal vehicle to the hospital with a leg injury, Kisner said.
The crash is still under investigation and any charges against Shereese will be decided at a later date, he said.
Triune Halleck Volunteer Fire Department, Mon Health EMS, West Virginia Department of Transportation and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene.
