The truck driver involved in the nine-vehicle wreck on Interstate 75 was cited for careless driving in Florida on Wednesday – one day before officials say he plowed into several vehicles in a crash that killed six people in Chattanooga.
Benjamin Scott Brewer, 39, sideswiped a truck while attempting to pass on June 24 in Wildwood, Fla., according to a Florida Highway Patrol crash report. Brewer’s truck struck the left bumper of the other truck, and both vehicles pulled to the shoulder of the two-lane road around 9:30 a.m.
Staff photo by Tim Barber
Present and former band members at Ocoee Middle School show their respects as the funeral procession for band leader Brian Gallaher passes Monday afternoon in Cleveland, Tenn., June 29, 2015. From left are Maddie Goins, Tammie Goins, Connor Goins, Corbin Reinhard, Roschelle, Reinhard, Skyler Boartwright and Angel Mendez.Neither driver was hurt, according to the report, and both were wearing seatbelts. The road was not wet, Brewer was not distracted and his vision was not obscured, according to the report. He was issued a citation for careless driving and ordered to pay $166.
The same woman who was riding with Brewer when he crashed in Chattanooga was a passenger in the truck during the Florida wreck, according to the report. Chattanooga police have identified the woman as Brewer’s fiancee. She does not have a commercial driver’s license, Lt. Adrian Gibb said Monday.
After the accident on Wednesday, Brewer stopped to repair his truck in Ocala, Fla., before driving up to Chattanooga, Gibb said. Brewer, who drives for London, Ky., trucking company Cool Runnings Express Inc., had driven at least 400 miles before wrecking in Chattanooga, Gibb said.