Chicago truck driver accused of driving high in deadly Hopkinsville semi crash

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — A Chicago man has been charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence of drugs after a deadly semi crash on I-64. It happened around 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, per a news release from the Kentucky State Police (KSP). Troopers were sent to the area of Fort Campbell Boulevard after the Christian County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) got calls about a reckless driver at the 86-mile marker of I-24 West. According to court documents, the caller said a semi-truck was "all over the roadway," and was unable to maintain speed, allegedly coming close to running other cars off the road. At the 81-mile marker, the truck allegedly ran the caller off the road multiple times, and he had to "cut through the grass" to make it to Exit 81, troopers said. Troopers wrote that the driver, identified as 36-year-old Gerasimos Liviertos of Chicago, turned south onto Fort Campbell Boulevard, with deputies from the CCSO following him. Liviertos then allegedly pulled an illegal U-turn to head north. After making the illegal turn, court documents alleged that Liviertos was ahead of another driver in a silver car, who wasn't able to slow down and hit the truck's trailer. The crash caused the silver car to go "fully underneath" Liviertos's truck, troopers wrote, causing severe injuries to the driver, identified as 33-year-old Bernice Franklin of Clarksville, Tennessee. State police said first responders took Franklin to a hospital, where he died from his injuries. At the scene of the crash, KSP and deputies investigated together and found that Liviertos was likely under the influence, according to court documents. Marijuana was allegedly found on a bed in the cab of the truck as well as inside a backpack. A citation shows that he tested positive for cannabis before allegedly failing a field sobriety test. He was arrested and charged with: He was lodged in the Christian County Detention Center without bond and was arraigned at 1 p.m. on Monday. An investigation into the deadly crash remains ongoing.