Inset top, left to right: Luke Soposki, Logan Soposki, Lynnea Soposki (Dimbleby Funeral Homes). Inset bottom: Modou Ngom (Delaware County (Ohio) Jail).
Survivors and family members of victims of a deadly pileup on a busy Ohio highway are blaming a big rig driver they say wasn”t paying attention as traffic slowed — and who is now facing criminal charges.
On April 11, shortly before 6:30 p.m., truck driver Modou Ngom was allegedly behind the wheel of his truck when he allegedly caused a chain-reaction crash that left three people — all members of the same family — dead and several others injured. Days later, Ngom — who also allegedly goes by the name Lamine Gaye — was indicted on three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and four counts of vehicular assault, all felonies, according to local CBS affiliate WBNS.
Law enforcement officials allege that Ngom didn’t stop while approaching backup traffic in a construction zone near the Tanger Outlets Columbus mall on I-71, near the U.S. 36 and state Route 37 interchange. Traffic video reportedly shows several vehicles slowly in the far right lane, WNBS reported. A white semitruck is seen crashing into the cars, at least one of which burst into flames instantly. The truck is then seen driving into the median — with at least two of the vehicles being pushed into the median by the truck, the WBNS story said.
A total of nine vehicles were reportedly involved in the crash, which took the lives of Luke Soposki, 37, and Lynnea Soposki, 36 — whose 1-year-old child, Logan, also died in the collision. Now, an administrator of the Soposki estate has filed a lawsuit against Ngom.
The truck driver’s actions showed a “conscious disregard for the rights and safety” of the victims and the other vehicles on the road, despite him knowing there was a “great possibility” of causing substantial harm, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by estate executor Vic Whitney. The crash — due to Ngom’s negligence, according to the complaint — has called family members “mental pain, grief, anguish and emotional trauma in the past and that they will continue to experience the same in the future.”
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Another victim, Alyssa Harris, has also filed a lawsuit. She alleges that Ngom caused her and her family to experience “terror and conscious anguish, suffering and pain.” Her husband has also joined the lawsuit.
Officials said additional people were taken to nearby hospitals for serious, but not life-threatening injuries.
According to WBNS, authorities uncovered conflicting information related to Ngom’s identity in state and federal records. The Ohio Department of Public Safety says that evidence indicates Ngom used a fake name to get a new Ohio driver’s license around 2003, and, later, a commercial driver’s license in 2027.
He was reportedly naturalized as a U.S. citizen in the mid-2010s under the same alternate identity before apparently changing his name back to Modou Ngom in 2015, Ohio officials said.
Ngom’s bond was set at $500,000 and records indicate he is still at the Delaware County jail.
