A tractor-trailer crashes into a home and kills 2, the driver is charged

IRWIN (AP) — Two people have died and another was injured after a tractor-trailer crashed into a home in eastern Tennessee and the truck driver was arrested, police said.

Robenson Vertus, 41, of Connecticut, was driving the semitruck west along Interstate 26 on Sunday morning when it left the roadway, went through a fence and across another road before hitting a parked car and then a two-story house, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a statement.

Unicoi County Emergency Management Agency Director Jimmy Erwin told the Johnson City Press that the truck caught fire after crashing into the home, which then set it ablaze.

One person in the home was killed in the wreck and a second person was pronounced dead later at the hospital, police said. A third person remained hospitalized.

Vertus had minor injuries from the crash and was treated before being taken to the Unicoi County Jail on charges of criminally negligent homicide, authorities said. Online jail records don’t list an attorney for Vertus.

Knoxville Named No. 4 ‘Best Arts District’ by USA Today 10Best Readers’

Knoxville is the No. 4 “Best Arts District” nationwide, according to USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice 2023 poll.

The poll included 20 nominees, which were selected by an expert panel based on how they “culturally enrich their cities and those who visit.”

Then, the public voted for their favorite, determining the finalists. The top 10 winners were announced by USA Today on Friday, June 23.

“USA Today readers have affirmed what we in Knoxville have known for years – our ‘Scruffy City’ defies its common nickname,” said Liza Zenni, executive director of the Arts & Culture Alliance. “The culture cultivated by residents, artists, businesses, local government and downtown organizations enhances the experience of living, working and visiting our incredible city.”