Truck Driver Charged With Vehicular Manslaughter in Fatal I-85 Wreck

The tractor trailer driver believed to be responsible for a fatal wreck on Interstate 85 near Steve Reynolds Boulevard on July 8 has been charged in the death of Duluth resident Rabia Adnan.

Gwinnett Police said in an emailed release Friday afternoon (July 26) that Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Greenville, S.C., turned himself in to the Gwinnett County Detention Center on Thursday, July 25.

Caldwell has been charged with second degree vehicular manslaughter and making an unsafe lane change, according to Gwinnett Police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith.

Police say Caldwell, who has bounded out of jail, caused the accident that sent a Nissan Pathfinder into another vehicle and out of control before flipping several times near the Steve Reynolds on-ramp to southbound I-85. Adnan, 32, was ejected from the SUV. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to police reports.

Investigators say Caldwell made an unsafe lane change, which initiated the wreck, then continued on to his destination in Cobb County. Because his truck did not strike the Pathfinder, he is not being charged with hit and run, according to Smith's email.