Photo of the scene as seen on the Facebook page of Citizens’ Engine Co. No. 2.
SEYMOUR — A truck driver faces four charges after crashing on Route 8 south Saturday, causing the highway to close for about five hours.
State police said 31-year-old Jose Edwin Vasquez of Waterbury was hauling 80 tons of garbage from Waterbury to Bridgeport at about 12:15 p.m. when he lost control of the vehicle while entering a curve. The truck flipped onto its side, sending garbage off the Route 8 bridge and into the Naugatuck River below.
The truck was also leaking diesel fuel after the wreck. State environmental officials were notified.
Vasquez was not injured, according to a Saturday night statement from state police.
He was charged with driving with a suspended license, reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangerment, and failing to stay in the proper lane.
A state police accident information summary says Vasquez owns the truck. The information from state police does not identify nor say whether he was working for a company. He is scheduled to appear in court in Derby on June 26, at which time a case file will be generated and more information will be available to the public.
A Valley Indy reader shared this photo to Valley Indy Facebook shortly after the crash happened in Seymour.
Vasquez allegedly told police his truck may have exceeded its load capacity. Police said a trooper conducted an inspection of the vehicle after the crash and found several unspecified safety violations — violations that were initially discovered during an inspection in February but were not corrected.
Seymour police, the fire department, EMS, along with representatives from the state Department of Transportation and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection all responded to the scene.
The closure forced Route 8 southbound traffic off the road and onto local streets, which created traffic jams on Route 67, Main Street, and surrounding roads in Seymour.
The fire department kept the public aware of the situation through posts on social media.
