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Police: Man in stolen car triggered fiery crash that killed a truck driver on Schuylkill Expressway

Zamir Abdul Johnson-Selby, 19, of Philadelphia. will be charged with homicide by motor vehicle and other offenses in the deadly crash.

Highway crews clear a fatal tractor trailer accident from Interstate 76 eastbound above Sweet Briar Drive, the access road to Martin Luther King Drive.
Highway crews clear a fatal tractor trailer accident from Interstate 76 eastbound above Sweet Briar Drive, the access road to Martin Luther King Drive.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

A 19-year-old Philadelphia man has been arrested and faces charges of triggering a fiery crash that killed a Florida truck driver on the Schuylkill Expressway in Fairmount Park, state police said.

Police said Zamir Abdul Johnson-Selby was driving a stolen 2018 Toyota Yaris in the eastbound lanes about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when he overshot the Girard Avenue exit and lost control while trying to back up.

A tractor-trailer hit the Yaris, then slammed into the concrete barrier on the right side of the roadway and exploded into flames as the trailer toppled off the highway onto Sweet Briar Drive, spilling its cargo of fresh produce, state police said.

The truck driver, a 54-year-old man from Jacksonville whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Yaris was spun into the far left lane, injuring Johnson-Selby and his two passengers, both juvenile females.

Investigators traced the three to the Penn Presbyterian Trauma Center and arrested Johnson-Selby. State police said the Yaris had been reported stolen in Philadelphia.

State police said Johnson-Selby will be charged with homicide by motor vehicle, driving under the influence. reckless endangerment, and related offenses.