Police seek truck that lost tires, killing driver

SEWICKLEY, Pa. (AP) — State police have been searching for a tractor-trailer that lost two tires that struck a vehicle, killing its driver and injuring a passenger on Interstate 79 west of Pittsburgh.

Police say 53-year-old Scott Rice, of Gibsonia, died when his car was hit by the tires, which also caused another vehicle to crash into a guard rail shortly after 6 a.m. Monday.

Trooper Robin Mungo says the tractor trailer was either hauling the tires or, more likely, lost them from a rear axle while driving northbound. The tires bounced over a median into the southbound lane, where they caused Rice’s car and the other vehicle to crash.

Rice’s passenger and the other car’s driver were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Mungo says the tractor-trailer driver may not realize the tires came off that vehicle.