Earlier this week, a truck driver was killed in Knoxville, Tennessee, after being struck by a wrong-way driver. Now, it’s been revealed that the 21-year-old SUV driver may have been playing the popular Pokemon Go game while behind the wheel.
On the morning of Wednesday July 20th, 21-year-old Anthony Swartz was traveling in the wrong direction on Interstate 40 in Knoxville, and struck a tractor trailer driven by 67-year old veteran truck driver, Carroll Trent.
Trent was hauling a flammable chemical, which caused the rig to explode on impact — killing both Swartz and Trent.
Now, the daughter of the deceased trucker has revealed that Swartz was allegedly playing the massively popular Pokemon Go mobile game when he struck her father’s rig.
His daughter, Rachel Trent, posted the following update on Facebook.
I probably shouldn’t post this, but this should a a wakeup call to people. I do not want to take my anger out on others unintentionally, so I will ask my friends & family out of respect & consideration for me & my family, please DO NOT mention Pokémon Go around me ever!! My father lost his life to this stupid friggin’ game!! The 21 year old who hit my Dad head on this morning was so obsessed with finding these Pokémon that he drove down this wrong side of the interstate colliding with my Dad’s semi & in turn caused his truck to explode, incinerating it to the ground!! There’s NOTHING LEFT but the frame!! My Dad died today thanks to this friggin’ App! So people, I urge you to PLEASE stop using this App!! But if you really have no life & must play it, please be responsible & DO NOT get in a car!!! I’d hate to see anyone I know cause this type of pain & devastation that has been inflicted upon my family today. . . .
Her Facebook post has since gone viral. It was shared more than 90,000 times, and has hundreds of comments from people leaving condolences.
The Pokemon Go allegations were not widely reported by local news agencies, however Trent’s daughter claims to have seen it on at least one news report. “I did see a clip that said he was playing Pokémon Go,” she confirmed on Facebook.
UPDATE: THE KNOXVILLE POLICE HAVE RESPONDED TO THE ALLEGATIONS, STATING THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE WRONG-WAY DRIVER WAS PLAYING THE VIDEO GAME AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH.