According to police reports, a 50-year-old truck driver for Cougle’s Recycling, Steven Bernier, was driving down route 222 in Pennsylvania when he dozed off. As he dozed off, his truck began to drift in the opposing lane.
Bernier was working an early shift, starting at 1 a.m. He began feeling tired around 6 in the morning.
At a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts, 2 vehicles, a red Sedan and a silver SUV, were pulling out of the parking lot when they were suddenly struck by Bernier’s truck.
He awoke just moments before the crash and applied the brakes, but you can’t stop 80,000 lbs on a dime.
The two passengers of the SUV, 23-year-old Jeremy Augustine and 32-year-old Jane Harakel, died on impact.
The Sedan was pinned against the sign pole in Allentown by the SUV and truck.Miraculously, the 3 passengers, all engineers from Michigan, survived.
A police officer inside the Dunkin’ Donuts at the time immediately came out to help the victims.
It took rescuers over 3 hours to free the passengers.
Bernier was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts homicide with vehicle, nine counts of aggravated assault, and more.