Trucker pleads guilty in traffic deaths

A Missouri truck driver accused of causing the deaths of two people in an accident on Interstate 70 in April changed his plea to guilty on two counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter Monday.

Columbia Police concluded that Carl J. West, 62, of Novinger, caused the April 28 accident, in which two people died, by failing to slow down for traffic that had stopped in a work zone. Boone County Prosecutor April Wilson recommended three years in prison.

West, who faces up to 10 years in prison, was scheduled to be sentenced in June. He made no statement at his hearing Monday morning.

Police said West, who was employed by B&C Trucking, of La Plata, was negligent in the accident that killed Cheryl Card, 54, of Lincoln, Neb., and John Ferkel, 40, of St. Peters. Card’s husband, Kirt, was injured in the accident. The Cards were returning from St. Louis, where Kirt Card had undergone evaluation for a lung transplant, when the crash occurred.

The Cards’ daughter, Rachel Wood, said she was glad to hear West was near sentencing.

“I guess (any sentence) is better than nothing,” she said. “I’m glad they’re doing something about it.”

But she said she wasn’t sure if the three years the prosecutor recommended was enough.

“I don’t know if that’s justice,” she said. “I haven’t really processed everything about (West) yet because I’m still grieving for my mother.”

On the morning the crash occurred, West told accident investigators he came over a low hill between the Lake of the Woods exit and Hominy Creek bridge. He said the hill obstructed his view of a temporary construction zone, where the left lane had been blocked and traffic had stopped in the right lane.

According to accident investigators, West, who was driving a semi-truck with no trailer attached, hit the Cards’ stopped car. West then hit Ferkel’s minivan, pushing it under a tractor-trailer driven by Robert Montgomery, 45, of Lakewood, Ohio.

West, Montgomery and Kirt Card did not recall seeing construction zone warning signs before reaching the construction area set up by the Missouri Department of Transportation, according to police reports. The lane restriction began one mile before the site of the accident, according to police. It also said that orange cones and a flashing arrow board signaled the beginning of the construction zone. The speed limit in the work zone was not reduced from 70 mph, the usual speed limit at the site of the accident.

West has an extensive record of driving and trucking offenses, including four convictions and more than 30 arrests since 1976. Police say he admitted to intentionally falsifying his log, including the amount he slept the night before the accident.

West said he hit the brakes and tried to turn away from the cars, but a witness driving behind him said he saw no brake lights, and accident investigators found no skid marks to indicate braking.

Contrary to West’s claim, police said they found no sight obstructions for a westbound driver at the site.

Denise Ferkel, John Ferkel’s wife, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against West and B&C Trucking, claiming West made no attempt to avoid the accident. She could not be reached for comment Monday.