BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE -- An Erlanger man who police say caused a multivehicle accident Thursdaywhen a pallet of roofing shingles fell from his pickup on southbound Interstate 75 was charged Monday with leaving the scene of the accident and shifting or spilling loads.
Dennis C. McDine, 43, the alleged driver of the pickup, likely will be served with a summons this week by the Kenton County Sheriff's Office. Once the summons is served, Mr. McDine will be required to appear in Boone County Court at 10 a.m. Aug. 4 for an arraignment hearing on the two misdemeanor charges.
Mr. McDine was apprehended Friday by Florence Police officers Mike Riddle and Tom Scheben, both members of the accident reconstruction team.
Mr. McDine told police he dropped the shingles and then left the scene, police said. The debris in the road caused a tanker truck to flip onto its side, crushing a minivan. The wreck, which involved four other vehicles, closed southbound lanes for more than eight hours.
The roof of the minivan carrying Vernon Bowling, 56, and Beulah Bowling, 53, both of Williamstown, had to be removed to get the occupants out.
Mrs. Bowling was released Thursday from University Hospital in Cincinnati. Mr. Bowling was listed in good condition Monday. In a separate accident about 3 a.m. Friday, a Michigan man was killed when his car crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer stopped in the emergency lane on southbound I-75. The tractor-trailer had stopped for the earlier accident that closed the highway.
Florence Officer Rob Bacigalupo said it is unlikely Mr. McDine will be charged in the fatal accident.
"He'll have nothing to do with that," Officer Bacigalupo said.
