Tractor-trailer driver charged after crash that closed part of I-64

HENRICO Va. (WWBT) – A 62-year-old truck driver has been charged following a bizarre tractor-trailer crash that closed the westbound lanes of I-64 near the Henrico County/New Kent line Thursday morning.

According to Virginia State Police, the bed of the tractor-trailer hit the overhead sign near the 200-mile marker near the I-295 interchange at 9:36 a.m.

The bed, which was empty at the time of the accident, was removed from the sign around 11 a.m., but the interstate remained closed.

“The taxi continued on its way and then stopped because it had separated from the bed of the tractor-trailer,” said Virginia State Police spokesman Matt Demlein. “We’re still investigating what caused it to hit the sign.”

There is no word yet on where the truck was coming from at the time. Virginia State Police said the tractor-trailer was stopped at a weigh station on I-64 before the crash.

The tractor-trailer driver, Richard D. Houston Jr. of Lorton, was charged with reckless driving. He was not injured.

Virginia State Police are still investigating the crash, including the timeline of events leading up to the crash and where the truck was headed.

“We know it stopped on the scale on the westbound side just across from where we’re standing now and then continued on,” Demlein said. “I don’t know where it came from.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation has not yet announced when the road will reopen.