Lawyer for family of victim involved in deadly Cheat Lake crash calling for changes to the law
Investigators are now trying to track down a semitruck driver who is accused of crashing into a Fayette County man's car and pushing it off of a bridge and into a frozen lake.
The victim's family is devastated and their lawyer said that the negligent homicide charges that are being filed are a misdemeanor in West Virginia and said that legislators should look into making the laws stronger.
"It's the callous nature of you knowing or even suspecting that the car you ran into went over the side of a bridge and fell 200 feet into an icy lake and you say nothing about it," said Dino Colombo. "If that's true, there are no words to describe that."
Colombo wants the truth to come out after the tragic death of Kevin Lataille, the 59-year-old husband and father from Fayette County. Lataille left work at Eat 'n Park in Morgantown early because of the bad weather and that's when he plunged over the Cheat Lake Bridge.
Investigators later pulled his car from the icy waters a week later.
An arrest warrant was issued on Monday for the truck driver accused of crashing into him and pushing him off the bridge.
"There is a photograph of a gentleman, a person, that appears to be the truck driver looking out over the edge of the bridge where Mr. Lataille's vehicle was ultimately found," Colombo said.
Colombo also said he's been told there is video evidence, but he has yet to see it.
"You see snow flying on the bridge, very heavy snow that day, and then you see what appears to be a vehicle go over the side of the bridge and into the water," he said.
Colombo is waiting for crash reports but said the Monongalia County Sheriff's Office feels confident the damage on Lataille's car matches that of the damage on the semitruck.
Deputies said the truck driver and his coworker needed an interpreter but denied hitting any drivers.
The driver is facing a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide.
"The penalty is typically a year or less in prison," Colombo said. "Obviously a fine. This whole situation could turn out to be nothing more than a slap on the wrist."
Deputies said it was the cab of the semitruck that hit the victim's car, but it's unclear how fast he was going. Investigators said it was too fast and reckless for the conditions and he crashed into another car before hitting the victim's.