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DUBOIS -- New information came to light over the weekend concerning last week's fatal crash on Interstate 80 in Jefferson County that claimed the life of 36-year-old Hughesville resident Cody Rishel, 36, according to state police.
He was a front-seat passenger in a 2014 Ford Edge driven by Eric Stroup, 47, also of Hughesville, that plowed into the back of a tractor-trailer truck, driven by Lukasz Romanczyk, of Effort, Monroe County, who was not injured, police said.
The crash occurred in the westbound passing lane in Washington Township about 5:45 p.m. on June 13.
The truck driver had slowed to a stop due to backed up traffic in a construction zone, police said. "Stroup failed to apply his brakes and struck Romanczyk's trailer, causing the Edge to spin off to the south side of the highway, coming to a stop in the median," police said.
The tractor-trailer truck was not moved by the collision, police said.
Stroup and two back-seat passengers, Ryan M. Hoy, 39, of Watsontown, and Michael Miller, 31, of San Angelo, Texas, were helped out of the wreckage and taken to UPMC Altoona to be treated for serious injuries.
When a reporter called the trauma center Sunday afternoon, a nursing supervisor said hospital policy prohibited her from releasing medical conditions.
Rishel, who was pronounced dead at scene, was trapped in the car and had to be extricated from the vehicle with the use of special rescue tools, police said.