A Texas truck driver has been charged with felony homicide by vehicle after a seven-vehicle chain-reaction crash on Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania — and, according to police statements reported from the court affidavit, he told troopers he had hidden a narcolepsy diagnosis to keep his commercial driver's licence. The charges are allegations, and the driver has not been convicted.
Source: ABC27 reporting, via CDLLife, Oct 27, 2026
The crash happened on Friday, October 23, at about 7:14 a.m. on the northbound lanes of I-81 near mile marker 47 in South Middleton Township, Cumberland County, according to Pennsylvania State Police reporting. Jessica Moore, 36, of Newville, was killed, the Cumberland County Coroner identified her, with an autopsy scheduled for Tuesday, October 27.
Source: WGAL News 8, Pennsylvania State Police / court documents
According to ABC27's reporting of the police account, the tractor-trailer driven by David Rodis Lynn III, 43, of Round Rock, Texas, crashed into the back of a Honda CR-V, pushing it into a Mitsubishi. Both vehicles were then pushed into a Subaru, which hit a pickup truck towing a trailer, and several other vehicles were hit in the chain reaction — seven vehicles in total. The Subaru caught fire, killing its driver, and three other people were taken to hospital with injuries reported to include broken bones and a brain bleed; other reporting described at least two people as critically injured.
Source: ABC27 reporting, via CDLLife, Oct 27, 2026
What police say the driver told them
David told police he had been travelling at between 65 and 70 mph in a 55 mph zone and failed to stop in time for a traffic backup caused by a previous wreck, according to ABC27's reporting. He also admitted to troopers, police say, that he had lied about a narcolepsy diagnosis in order to keep his CDL. WGAL, citing Pennsylvania State Police and court documents, reported the same admission: that he hid the diagnosis to keep his licence.
Source: ABC27 reporting, via CDLLife, Oct 27, 2026
Further investigation found that the inspection on the tractor-trailer had expired in August, and that a cell phone mount was partially blocking the view out of his windshield, according to the reported police account. Those details, like the speed and the narcolepsy admission, are part of the allegations in the case and will be tested in court.
Source: ABC27 reporting, via CDLLife, Oct 27, 2026
The charges and the road closure
David has been charged with felony homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle and recklessly endangering another person, along with several driving violations, according to the reporting. He is being held in Cumberland County Prison on $150,000 bail, and a preliminary hearing is set for November 4.
Source: ABC27 reporting, via CDLLife, Oct 27, 2026
The crash shut the northbound interstate in the Carlisle area for nearly nine hours on Friday while state police, fire crews, emergency medical personnel and crash reconstruction investigators worked at the scene, according to local reporting at the time. A separate, earlier crash in the same area had already slowed traffic that morning, which is the backup police say the truck failed to stop for.
Source: WGAL News 8, Pennsylvania State Police / court documents
Homicide by vehicle, the narcolepsy admission, the reported speed and the expired inspection are allegations drawn from police statements and the court affidavit as reported by ABC27 and WGAL. David Rodis Lynn III is presumed innocent unless convicted, and the November 4 preliminary hearing is the next step at which the evidence will begin to be tested.
Why the medical question matters for every trucker
A CDL is not only a driving test. Under the federal medical-certification system, commercial drivers must be medically certified as fit to operate, and conditions that affect alertness are exactly the kind of history the system is built to surface. Police allege this driver concealed a narcolepsy diagnosis — a condition involving overwhelming daytime sleepiness — to keep that certification. For the many Punjabi truckers who run I-81 and other eastern freight corridors for a living, the case is a stark reminder of what is at stake in honest medical reporting: a hidden condition does not stay hidden after a fatal crash, and it becomes the centre of a homicide prosecution.
Source: ABC27 reporting, via CDLLife, Oct 27, 2026
What happens next
The preliminary hearing on November 4 will decide whether the charges move forward toward trial in Cumberland County. The coroner's autopsy findings on Jessica Moore, scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, also form part of the record. Moore was a mother, and a fundraiser started by a family friend is helping her family with funeral and memorial costs, according to reporting on the family's appeal. The state police investigation into the full circumstances of the crash remains ongoing.
Source: WGAL News 8, Pennsylvania State Police / court documents