Dump truck driver charged, gasoline truck driver killed in head-on crash in Wake County

The crash occurred around 9:15 a.m. when the trucks crashed at Mial Plantation Road and Old Baucom Road, near the border of Wake and Johnston counties. The intersection remained closed into the afternoon.

The State Highway Patrol said Victor Eldred Adrian Sumner, 41, of Garner, crossed the center line in his dump truck and collided with a gas fuel tanker driven by Scott Thomas Painter, 55, of Wendell.

Painter was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sumner was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, and he was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, operating left of center, careless and reckless driving, operating a commercial vehicle while using a mobile telephone and resisting or delaying an investigation.

On radio traffic immediately after the crash, law enforcement officer indicated that Sumner walked away from the crash. "The at-fault driver, he just dipped out into the woods," one investigator said. "I got eyes on him but I’ll bring him back up to the crash site so I can turn him over to him as soon as possible."

Court records show Sumner was charged with drug possession and driving while impaired in May 2023. He was out on bond on those charges which have yet to go to trial.

"It was like a bomb going off or something. It was really loud," she said.

Sky 5 flew above the scene after the crash, showing plenty of damage to both of the massive trucks.

According to radio traffic immediately after the crash, oil leaked from the tanker toward the Neuse River.