An Erie, Pennsylvania, commercial driver faces 22 charges after a July 23 crash involving nine vehicles. According to the affidavit, police identified Irabaruta Ezechiel as the driver of a 2022 Freightliner semi-truck. A court-filed affidavit places the collision at West 12th and Myrtle streets in Erie PA. Judge Alison M. Scarpitti denied bail after Ezechiel’s July 24 arrest.
According to the affidavit, the semi traveled east through the 300 block of West 12th Street. Five motorcycles and four station wagons waited at a steady red light, the officer wrote. The document identifies one operator on each motorcycle and nine occupants inside the station wagons. Police claim the Freightliner struck the station wagons before it struck the motorcycles.
Affidavit describes flight from the truck
The affidavit states that Ezechiel stumbled from the cab after the collision. It claims he fled while carrying a case of Bud Light bottles. The officer wrote that one open Bud Light bottle remained in the center cup holder. Witnesses chased and subdued Ezechiel behind a nearby U-Haul before police arrived, according to the filing.
The affidavit states that officers transported Ezechiel to Saint Vincent Hospital after his arrest. The investigating officer noted a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” and bloodshot, watery eyes. A charge nurse later told the officer that Ezechiel needed emergency-room care because he was unconscious. The officer then obtained a nighttime warrant and collected two vials of blood.
The officer sent the blood kit to Pennsylvania State Police for BAC testing. Lab results remained pending when police filed the complaint. The affidavit does not provide a blood-alcohol result.
An investigator later visited UPMC Hamot Hospital, according to the affidavit. The filing reports that eight of 10 crash victims went there for treatment. It also lists two suspected serious injuries and six suspected minor injuries. X-rays and CT scans remained pending when the officer completed the document.
The affidavit first identifies five motorcycle operators and nine station-wagon occupants. It does not explain why the later hospital section refers to 10 victims. The document does not name injured people or provide current medical conditions. It also does not report a death.
Public docket lists 22 current charges
The public docket lists two aggravated-assault-by-vehicle-while-DUI charges. It also lists two aggravated-assault-by-vehicle charges. Three separate DUI counts involve commercial-vehicle alcohol use, high-rate alcohol and general impairment. Those charges remain accusations, and no court has entered a verdict.
The docket includes nine misdemeanor property-damage counts involving attended vehicles or property. It also lists reckless endangerment, open-container, reckless-driving and unsafe-speed charges.
FreightWaves uses the docket’s current 22-charge total. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 7 in Erie County Central Court. Louis Callahan of the Erie County Public Defender’s Office represents Ezechiel. Callahan declined to comment.
Why it matters
Fleets need clear impairment policies, incident reporting and evidence-preservation procedures after serious crashes. Those practices protect people and create factual records for investigators, insurers and employers.
Click here for more articles on cargo theft and freight fraud by Phil Brink.
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