Impaired Driver Kills 4

Four people were killed Sunday evening near Kingsport when they were run over by an impaired driver on Interstate 81. According to the Kingsport Police Department, a Chevrolet Express van was heading southbound on I-81 when it got a flat tire. The driver pulled the van onto the right-hand shoulder of the interstate and five of the eight occupants exited the van to help repair the flat tire. Shortly thereafter, a tractor trailer driven by 60 year old Saul Carrera of New York City veered onto the right shoulder hitting the van and striking all five people who were outside the van fixing the flat tire. Carrera then drove a short distance farther before jackknifing his tractor trailer and overturning off the right side of the interstate. He was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Four of the five people outside the van were killed…the three inside the van were uninjured. Police say that Carrera was under the influence at the time of the crash and is now charged with 4 counts of vehicular homicide, reckless aggravated assault and felony reckless endangerment. Once he is released from the hospital, he will be jailed on a $200,000 bond.