CHEAT LAKE, W. Va. — The last six weeks have been tough for the Lataille family, according to their attorney, Dino Colombo.
“They are just heartbroken, and every emotion that you can imagine, they are going through right this minute,” Colombo told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek on Wednesday.
However, Colombo said he and the Lataille family are grateful Sukhjinder Singh is in custody. He’s the man police say was driving the semi truck that hit Kevin Lataille’s car on the Cheat Lake Bridge on Interstate 68, causing him to crash down into the lake below.
Lataille had just left his job at the Morgantown Eat’n Park early that day because of a snowstorm and never returned home to Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
He was missing for a week.
“It wasn’t until they found car parts literally on the ice of cheat lake where someone said, “‘Oh my god, I think the car is in the lake,’” Colombo said.
Colombo said Sukhjinder Singh should have known to report that he had hit another car.
“There’s no excuse for that. None,” Colombo said. “That just shows the callous nature of this driver. He had another passenger, another truck driver was with him in the truck with him as well and neither of them said anything.”
Sukhjinder Singh faces a negligent homicide charge in West Virginia, which is just a misdemeanor carrying a year or less in prison.
Colombo said he wants to see the law change to stiffen that penalty.
But, he’s also filing a civil lawsuit claiming the negligence of Sukhjinder Singh and the trucking company.
He said the driver and the passenger did not speak or understand English, which is required for a Commercial Driver’s License.
He also said, “this truck should have never been on the road to begin with.”
“You have an 80,000 pound tractor trailer coming down the hill on to the Cheat Lake Bridge with a snow storm in place,” Colombo added. “There’s no way that truck is going to be able to stop or that driver be able to control that truck and trailer if they need to stop on an emergency basis.”
Colombo said he expects Sukhjinder Singh to be brought back to West Virginia by the end of this week or early next week. Additional charges could be filed in this case.
Eat’n Park, where Lataille worked, sent a statement to Channel 11 saying, “Kevin was a valued member of our Morgantown Eat’n Park team who created Smiles every day. We continue to mourn his passing, and we extend our heartfelt support to Kevin’s family as they navigate this tragic loss.”
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