ETNA, Ohio — The truck driver accused of causing the deadly chain-reaction crash that killed three Tusky Valley High School students, two adult chaperones and a teacher last year told investigators he didn’t remember anything about the crash or driving nearly eight miles leading up to the deadly collision last November.
Those details came from newly released documents from the National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the November 2023 crash.
Among the records released was a transcript of an interview highway patrol troopers conducted with truck driver Jacob McDonald in the hospital following the crash.
According to the transcript, McDonald told investigators the last thing he remembered was passing the 126-mile marker on Interstate 70 while driving a Freightliner semi westbound.
McDonald told police the next thing he remembered was, “It’s like I just woke up, and I seen the fire outside my truck,” according to troopers.
But investigators said nearly eight miles had passed between McDonald’s last memory and the chain reaction crash that reduced three vehicles to little more than mangled metal and ash.
McDonald told investigators he left his Zanesville home the morning of Nov. 14, hauling 12 pallets of car batteries to Marysville.
According to an NTSB review of McDonald’s electronic logging device, his last recorded speed was about two miles before the crash when his truck was traveling 74.7 mph.
Investigators previously said McDonald’s truck failed to slow down for a traffic back-up caused by another crash on the interstate, slamming into an SUV and then the back of a charter bus filled with high school students.
Investigators checked McDonald’s driving history and found nine previous traffic convictions dating back to 2003.
According to the report, the most recent conviction was a year before the crash for speeding.
Also, in 2022, federal investigators found that McDonald was stopped for speeding in Indiana, where an inspection found that McDonald had his cell phone open with a video game “loaded and visible.”
According to investigators, he was not cited in that case or following a 2022 inspection in Ohio that found McDonald exceeded federal rules limiting drivers to 14 hours on duty.
The NTSB has not yet released its probable cause findings in the deadly crash.
McDonald has been jailed in Licking County since his indictment in July on 26 charges connected to the crash, including six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.
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McDonald pleaded not guilty to those charges and is awaiting trial.
Recently, the community gathered to honor and remember those who died with a memorial walk.
