‘Totally My Bad’: Teen Who Cut Off Tanker in Illinois Resulting in 5 Deaths Apologizes to Cops

A 17-year-old from Ohio admitted to causing a tanker truck carrying toxic ammonia to crash, resulting in multiple deaths, according to a new federal report.

Five people, including a father and his two kids, died in the Sept. 29, 2023, collision in Teutopolis, Ill. 

The girl, whose identity was withheld due to her being a minor at the time, spoke with authorities in a recorded interview published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

The interview at the Wright State Campus Police Department began with officers reading the teen her Miranda rights. When asked if she wanted an attorney, she replied: “Do I need one? What the hell?”

She told investigators that she knew “nothing more than what is on the news.” 

According to the teen, she was driving in Illinois that day because her mother was in a long-distance relationship with someone who lived there, “near Highland.”  

She recalled driving when “there was another crash. So we got off the 781... or whatever it is to take the 40 because we thought we'd at least keep moving.”

Authorities then mentioned a truck that the teen admitted to hearing about, saying, “I heard that maybe it flipped” and went off the road. 

Asked if she remembered seeing an anhydrous tanker near where she was driving, the teen said she was unsure as there were lots of trucks in the area.

However, she did recall, "I was behind several trucks. I was behind this, this boxy maybe trailer or RV. And he was going super duper slow, so I passed him."

The questions continued, with officers trying to establish a sequence of events. -

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“I did not see a crash, hear a crash or anything. I just remember seeing the emergency vehicles coming the other way,” the teen said. “Basically I just thought like it happened behind me.”

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On the day of the fatal incident, she continued with her family trip to see her mother’s boyfriend, and on their way back to Ohio, her mother mentioned a few news stories about the emergency vehicles and traffic — with the family still unaware of their involvement. 

In the interview published this week, police then mentioned dash cam video, saying a van registered to her mother appeared in the footage just before a massive wreck. 

After telling the officers that she went about 90 mph to pass a slower vehicle, they asked her what happened next.

“I just went on my merry way. I had no idea a truck flipped behind me,” she replied. 

Officers showed her the footage, to which she replied: "Oh, (expletive). Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Yep, totally my bad. Wow. Holy (expletive)." 

Tom Chapman, a board member for the NTSB, previously announced that the anhydrous tanker jackknifed before it smashed into a parked trailer.

The victims were identified as Kenneth Bryan, 34, of Teutopolis; his two children, Rosie Bryan, 7, and Walker Bryan, 10, of Beecher City, Ill; Danny J. Smith, 67, of New Haven, Mo; and Vasile Cricovan, 31, of Twinsburg, Ohio.

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