Motorists, Spring Hill Police team up to stop dangerous truck driver

SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) — Spring Hill Police arrested a Chicago truck driver after multiple motorists called 911 and took video of his dangerous driving for many miles along Interstate 65 North.

According to Spring Hill Police, it all unfolded on July 12. Multiple drivers followed an 18-wheeler and began calling 911, documenting driving that the Spring Hill Police Department said endangered many motorists multiple times.

Spring Hill Police shared a video with News 2 that investigators say shows truck driver Bohdan Matiuk, 29, from Chicago, driving his truck wildly.

At one point, the truck veered off Interstate 65 into the grass, almost rolling. The truck over-corrected and crossed in front of two lanes of traffic, entering the grassy median. It was headed toward the southbound lane of traffic.

Video showed the truck correcting itself as a dust cloud swirled around the highway. According to motorists who had been traveling around the truck for many miles, some people got out and tried and keep the driver from getting back in his truck. But he continued.

“He is swerving all over the road — I mean, he is all over the road,” one caller told a 911 dispatcher.

Spring Hill Police got behind the vehicle at around the 51 mile marker on the northbound side. Officers stopped the truck and spoke to witnesses who had been following the truck for miles.

“We have stopped him, got him out. He’s ran around the thing, got back in. He is crazy,” one witness told an officer on body camera footage.

When officers got Matiuk out of the cab, investigators said that he smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech. Matiuk told officers that other drivers were trying to break check him.

“You just saved so many lives. You have no idea. You have no idea. Look at the side of his trailer — he went out into the median,” a witness told an officer on body camera footage. “I mean, you have no idea how many lives you saved.”

A search of the cab revealed two open containers of beer on the passenger side floorboard. Police said that other sealed beers were found in a refrigerator in the cab behind the driver’s seat.

“He didn’t pull over. I think witnesses saw him get out of the cab, urinate on the ground, then get back in,” Lt. Mike Foster said. “He was not wanting to stay around. He tried to drive off, which is not a good thing. Luckily, we got an officer there, got him stopped.”

After failing a field sobriety test, the trucker was arrested and taken to the hospital for a blood draw. He was then taken to the Maury County Jail. The results of that blood test have not yet been released.

Foster credited motorists for getting officers to the scene before the truck driver could continue down the highway and possibly kill someone.

“The officer did an outstanding job,” Foster added. “It was a case of teamwork between police and citizens. That’s how we solve crime. We can’t do it without people helping us out.”

The truck driver was ultimately charged with driving under the influence, violating open container laws reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. In this case, the weapon was his truck.

The driver is no longer in jail, but Matiuk is due back in court on August 21.

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