Tracy Morgan Critically Injured in Car Crash
Update (6/8): A publicist for Tracy Morgan said that the actor was responsive on Sunday, though he remained in critical condition. Morgan suffered broken ribs, a broken nose, a broken leg and broken femur. He received surgery on his leg Sunday, and the publicist said he would likely remain in the hospital for several weeks, but called his increased responsiveness “an incredibly encouraging sign.”
CNN reports that comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, who was riding in the limo bus with Morgan, was killed in the accident. Fellow comedians Ardie Fuqua and Harris Stanton were also injured.
Kevin Roper, a truck-driver for Walmart, turned himself in and was released on $50,000 bail Saturday night. “If it’s determined that our truck caused the accident, Walmart will take full responsibility,” Walmart U.S. CEO and president Bill Simon said in a statement.
Tracy Morgan was critically injured early Saturday morning in a six-vehicle accident on the New Jersey Turnpike. The New York Times reports that that the actor was riding in a limousine bus that was hit by a tractor-trailer.
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“Tracy remains in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital,” Morgan’s spokesperson said in a statement. “He sustained these injuries in an accident that occurred early this morning as one of several passengers in a chauffeured SUV returning from a tour date in Delaware. His family is now with him and he is receiving excellent care.”
Morgan had been performing at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Dover, Delaware on Friday night. He was traveling on the northbound side of the turnpike near Cranbury Township when the tractor-trailer struck, overturning his limo bus. At least one person was killed in the accident, which also involved a second tractor-trailer, an S.U.V., and two cars.
Middlesex County prosecutors charged 35-year-old truck driver Kevin Roper with one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto. Roper had reportedly failed to observe slow-moving traffic ahead of him and tried to swerve to avoid hitting the car in front of him. He subsequently slammed into the bus and overturned it.
“It looks like one of the tractor-trailers may have rear-ended that limo bus, but that’s preliminary at this time,” Sgt. Gregory Williams of the New Jersey State Police told CNN. He said that he does not believe that alcohol played a role in the accident, but the matter is under investigation. Seven other people involved in the accident were hospitalized with injuries.
A spokesman at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey said that a patient named Tracy Morgan was in critical condition there. State police confirmed to CNN that it was the former Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock star.