CHIPLEY, Fla. (AP) — Three utility company linemen are dead after a pickup truck pulling a U-Haul trailer hit them while they were repairing lines damaged by Hurricane Michael in Florida’s Panhandle.
The Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release the crash happened Wednesday evening near Chipley, which is north of Panama City.
Sgt. R.C. Livingston says the vehicle was heading north on State Road 77 when it went onto the shoulder and struck the men.
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Livingston says 52-year-old George Cecil of Cole Rain, North Carolina, and 60-year-old James Ussery of Chipley, Florida, died. On Thursday, the third linemen injured in the crash, 22-year-old Ryan Barrett from Roanoke Rapids, NC, also died.
The highway patrol says 37-year-old John Goedtke, from Thonotosassa, is charged with DUI manslaughter, felony vehicular homicide and leaving the scene.
