Local

Troopers: Drunk driver caused crash that killed postal worker on I-85

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — State troopers said a drunk driver caused a wreck that killed a mailman overnight on Interstate 85 in west Charlotte.

Police said that around 5 a.m. the drunk driver stopped in the middle of the interstate, near Sam Wilson Road.

A tractor-trailer skidded to a stop to avoid hitting that car and that's when troopers said the mailman, identified as 60-year-old Calvin Hazel Jr., rear-ended the truck.

Hazel died at the scene.

Channel 9 spoke with a viewer who drove by moments after the crash, who said knowing that someone died was heartbreaking.

“I just can’t imagine what those people went through, and all I kept thinking about was the cars behind me because I was afraid it would be a chain reaction,” said Virginia Lethco.

Hazel was driving a U.S. Postal Service vehicle and delivering mail when he died.

The alleged drunk driver is charged with driving while impaired. Their name has not been released.