Image from Ohio State Highway Patrol body-worn camera video. Modou Ngom, a Columbus truck driver is facing vehicular homicide charges after deadly crash on I-71 near U.S. Route 36 in Delaware County on April 11, 2026. (Image: OSHP)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The semi driver accused of plowing into stopped construction traffic on Interstate 71 in Delaware County, killing a family of three, had been cited for an air brake violation just weeks before the deadly crash, federal investigators said.
Inspectors said parts of the semi’s brake system came loose as the driver slammed into stopped traffic, triggering a nine-vehicle chain-reaction crash in a construction zone on I-71. The crash happened on April 11.
Prosecutors said the driver, Modou Ngom, hit standstill traffic in the right-hand lane and did not attempt to brake. In body-camera video captured by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ngom said after the crash, “I’m trying to miss them, but she’s right in front of my truck.”
Federal investigators cited Ngom after the April 11 crash for his air reservoir coming loose from his brake system. Three weeks earlier, he was cited in Kansas for his ABS warning light not working, meaning he would have no warning if his brakes failed.
One of the survivors of the April 11 crash, Cody Bowling, described what he saw: “I saw the red one that was getting pushed by the tractor trailer. It was on fire. Two of them exploded.”
ABC 6 also spoke with Xavier Riegle-Carroll, who said he survived a separate crash in May 2024 in which Ngom was convicted for “unsafe vehicle.”
Riegle-Carroll said, “There was a major accident that just took place that claimed the lives of three people and he’s at fault yet again.”
A young family who regularly sold honey products at Main Street Delaware was killed in a crash on I-71 on April 11, 2026. (PROVIDED: Metro Fitness Worthington)
ABC6 On Your Side Investigates asked Riegle-Carroll if he thought Ngom was safe to be on the road. He said, “In that moment, no.” Asked if he felt Ngom was reckless, he said, “Absolutely.”
Riegle-Carroll said he was driving behind Ngom’s tractor-trailer when the truck’s drive shaft fell off and hit his car. “My car sat so low, it picked the whole front end up and slammed back down,” he said. When asked if that could have killed him, Riegle-Carroll responded, “Oh, yeah, absolutely.” He also said, “So I had no choice but to just hit my brakes and hope for the best.”
Despite the conviction, the May 2024 crash was never reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. FMCSA targets commercial drivers for safety inspections and compliance investigations that can keep them off the road.
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles lists the unsafe vehicle crash on Ngom’s driving record. However, the state agency said only reportable accidents show on an FMCSA carrier safety report, with criteria including crashes involving deaths, injuries or tows.
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission conducts compliance investigations on behalf of FMCSA. A PUCO spokesperson said the 2024 crash report indicated the truck was not towed, but the tow information box was left blank.
A dispatch report for the 2024 crash stated the semi truck was disabled and that Kevin’s Towing got it into a slow roll and into a pull-off location. Three hours later, Ngom got his own wrecker.
Image from Ohio State Highway Patrol body-worn camera video. Modou Ngom, a Columbus truck driver is facing vehicular homicide charges after deadly crash on I-71 near U.S. Route 36 in Delaware County on April 11, 2026. (Image: OSHP)
New: @FMCSA says a part to semi truck driver Modou Ngom's air break system came loose as @DelCoProsecutor says he slammed into stopped traffic last month & killed a family of 3. Weeks earlier, Ngom was cited by @FMCSA for his ABS light not working, warning of failures. pic.twitter.com/v4ajfOwpLy
— Lisa Rantala (@rantalawsyx) May 5, 2026
In an April 27 email to ABC6 Investigates, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Ngom’s vehicle was “initially towed.” But in a follow-up statement sent May 1, the patrol said the May 2024 crash was not reported to FMCSA because the crash report stated the commercial vehicle was not towed.
“The OSHP crash in May 2024 was not reported to FMCSA. Under the FMCSA guidelines, a commercial crash requires reporting if the crash is fatal, causes serious injuries, or if the commercial vehicle is towed. The crash report from 2024 states that the commercial vehicle was not towed. We also checked the CAD incident recall, it identifies the commercial vehicle, through assistance of the responding wrecker, completed a slow roll to the pull off. The driver declined the responding wrecker agency and opted to make his own arrangements. The crash report reflects what the trooper observed and can verify, which was that the commercial vehicle was located at the pull off at the conclusion of the crash investigation,” the statement said.
Scott L. Turner of Truck Accident and Incident Experts LLC, a consultant in commercial truck crash cases, reviewed Ngom’s federal safety profile. In it, nine violations are listed out of two roadside inspections over the last two years. A third inspection was added after last month’s crash, bringing Ngom’s out-of-service rate to 66%.
“That’s three times the national average,” Turner said. “So that’s red flags all day long.”
ABC6 Investigates asked who can act on that data from an enforcement perspective. Turner said, “That would be FMCSA.”
Riegle-Carroll questioned whether a conviction for an unsafe vehicle should automatically trigger a compliance investigation.
“Yeah,” he said.
Riegle-Carroll said the Delaware County crash that killed three people nearly two years after his crash was difficult to see.
“It’s upsetting, you know, seeing anyone get hurt and then seeing someone that’s just right up the road and then the whole family just gone,” he said.
Last week, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the directors of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation.
Within 30 days, Moreno said he wants to know how Ngom acquired citizenship and his commercial driver’s license, and whether anything else was not reported on Ngom’s federal safety profile.
Sen. Moreno Letter to DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin
