Tracy Morgan Out of Hospital; Report Says Atlanta Trucker in Crash Was Speeding

Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan was released Friday from a New Jersey hospital following a crash that killed one man and injured two others when their limousine was struck by a truck driven by a metro Atlanta man.

Morgan, former star of T.V.'s Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, spent nearly two weeks in critical condition after he was nearly killed in a June 7 New Jersey Turnpike car crash. On Friday, his publicist, Lewis Kay, told the New York Daily News that Morgan “has been transferred to an undisclosed rehab center, where he is expected to remain for the next few weeks.”

Trucker Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, GA, allegedly didn't sleep for 24 hours before the crash, according to NJ.com. He has been charged with face death-by-auto and assault-by-auto. Roper was released from custody after posting $50,000 bail.

On Thursday, a National Transportation Safety Board report found Roper’s truck was doing 20 mph over the posted speed limit before the crash with Morgan’s vehicle, the Daily News said.

The 2011 Peterbilt truck owned and operated by Walmart was speeding at 65 mph for the 60 seconds before the crash, the NTSB report says. CNN reports federal authorities believe Roper allegedly ignored a sign a mile before the crash warning drivers that lanes were closed ahead for construction and another sign a half-mile later reducing the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph.

Investigators say Roper’s tractor-trailer crashed into Morgan’s van, a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter, as both vehicles traveled in the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike. Four other vehicles were involved in the crash. None of the people in those vehicles were injured, according to the prosecutor's office.  

The Cranbury, N.J. crash killed James "Uncle Jimmy Mack" McNair, 63, of Peekskill, N.Y., while two others - a 36-year-old man from Shelton, Ct. and a 43-year-old man from Jersey City - were injured.

Morgan, 45, was treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick after sustaining a broken leg, a broken femur, a broken nose and several broken ribs, said his publicist.

Roper reported for work at 11:22 a.m. on June 6, according to the NTSB report quoted by CNN. He made stops at Walmart stores in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania before the wreck 13 hours, 32 minutes later, it said. Federal rules say long-haul truckers can drive no more than 14 hours before they have to rest.

The NTSB report says Roper’s total driving time the day of the crash was 9 hours, 37 minutes.