PRINCETON, W.Va. — An Illinois truck driver is free on $5,000 bond after being arrested this week in connection with an April 2017 crash on the West Virginia Turnpike that killed four members of a North Carolina family.
Troopers working the Turnpike charged Bertram Copeland, 41, of Rockford, Ill., with four counts of negligent homicide back in October. He was arrested Tuesday and released on bond, according to a report Saturday in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
David and Christine Gilley and their two children, Jack and Grace, were in a minivan traveling to meet family in Ohio when the tractor trailer Copeland was driving came across the median near the Camp Creek exit in Mercer County. The truck, which was carrying canned goods, overturned near the van causing a deadly fire.
Copeland is charged with four counts of negligent homicide and reckless driving, all misdemeanors. He’ll be back in court at a later date.