A Franklin County man has been arrested Wednesday by the Arkansas State Police over a fatal tanker-truck crash Wednesday morning on Interstate 40 in Franklin County.
Douglas Darr, 43, of Ozark, is charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death or personal injury. Darr also was charged with careless and prohibited driving, no proof of liability insurance and failure to register a vehicle. He is being held at the Franklin County jail.
The tanker driver, James Rotenbury, 59, of Russellville was forced to swerve to avoid a car that had pulled out in front of him as he traveled east on I-40, according to a state police report.
The driver was killed when the truck rolled and the contents of the tanker ignited and the fire spread from the truck and trailer across the roadway and into the median, the report said.
"Until the investigating troopers assigned to the crash can examine the location where the remains were found, confirm the identification and interview the owner of the commercial carrier, it would be premature to confirm whether or not this person was the driver," said spokesman Bill Sadler.
After the crash, east and westbound lanes were closed for several hours and traffic was redirected to Arkansas 64.
A report from the state Department of Transportation showed that the lanes were cleared as of 3:04 p.m.
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