The driver involved in a hit-and-run fatality truck accident near Chanute has been arrested.
The Kansas Highway Patrol announced Monday the driver — later identified by the Chanute Tribune as Paul Anthony Abram, 53, Houston — was located in Kansas City, Kan., Saturday.
The trucking company that owns the truck in question, Five Rivers Transport LLC out of Kansas City, contacted authorities following the accident, according to a KHP news release.
Several others phoned in tips as well, the Tribune reported, including an Iola resident who had seen the damage to the truck and reported it to police.
Troopers said the trucking company has been “very cooperative” throughout the investigation.
Abram was northbound on U.S. 169 about two miles north of Chanute, when for unknown reasons, his semitractor-trailer rig crossed the center line and struck the trailer of another semitractor-trailer unit driven by Bryan Brodie, 56, Neosho, Mo.
The impact of the collision pushed Brodie’s truck into the ditch, where it jackknifed and overturned.
Brodie, who was not wearing a seat belt, was declared dead the scene.
The Tribune said Abram was arrested and transported to Neosho County shortly thereafter.
Neosho County Attorney Linus Thuston was being asked to charge Abram with a host of charges, including reckless second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident.
Driver arrested in fatal hit-and-run
