CHANDLER, Ariz.—A tractor-trailer driver was on the social media app TikTok just before causing a Phoenix-area freeway collision that killed five people, authorities said.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced in a news release that 36-year-old Danny G. Tiner was arrested at his home Thursday on multiple charges related to the January crash, including five counts of manslaughter.
An investigation determined Tiner was driving 68 mph (109 kph) in a 55 mph (89 kph) construction zone and actively using TikTok on his cellphone right before.
Initially, Tiner told police he received a message on an electronic work tablet and was acknowledging it.
It was not immediately known Friday if Tiner had retained an attorney who could speak for him.
He was also booked on four counts of endangerment and one count of tampering with physical evidence.
On the morning of Jan. 12, state troopers responded to a fiery chain-reaction crash on Interstate 10 in Chandler involving six cars. DPS officials said a tractor-trailer crashed into a passenger car, pushing it into another semitrailer and two other cars.
Most of the victims were trapped inside burning vehicles as the resulting fire from the crash lasted about two hours.