Plea expected in deadly South Lake Tahoe tanker crash

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It has been 11 months since the deadly tanker crash on US50 and Elks Club Road claimed the life of a 36-year-old North Highlands man. The thick black smoke from the wreckage could be seen for miles as emergency response crews worked on extinguishing the blaze.

Father-to-be Daniel Noah Peterson was behind the wheel on September 7, 2019 when the driver of a Prius pulled out in front of its path. Peterson tried to steer the tanker away from the Prius and went into a sideways skid, colliding with the Upper Truckee River Bridge before catching on fire.

This past Friday, Daniel's father Dan saw the driver of the Prius in court for the first time.

Twenty-nine-year-old John Alexander Kirkpatrick of Reno was in Judge Suzanne Kingsbury's courtroom for the first time. Kirkpatrick's lawyer, Rob Woelfel had represented him through previous court proceedings without his client present.

"This was the first time seeing John Kirkpatrick, knowing that he was the last person who saw my son on earth," said the victim's dad Dan Peterson. "It was hard to look at him."

Legal closure to the case may be coming at Kirkpatrick's next court hearing on August 28 where a plea is expected. But for the elder Peterson, closure isn't coming.

"No matter what they say, it doesn't get better with time," said Dan after court in South Lake Tahoe Friday. "I wake up and still don't believe it."

His son is buried near the family home in Grass Valley, a place Dan drives by daily.

While people in South Lake Tahoe knew someone died in the 11:55 a.m. crash, Daniel at his home in Grass Valley had no clue. He was out walking his dog at 7:45 p.m. when a sheriff's deputy drove up to his home to deliver the devastating news. Just 15 minutes prior to that, Dan had texted his son who he knew was making a gasoline delivery to South Lake Tahoe. "You must be liking the weather," he had typed but never received a reply unknowing at that time that his son had died almost eight hours before that.

The day before the crash, Friday, September 6, Daniel had made his last truck payment and paid the final installment on commercial trucking school. He had just found out Bri was 15 weeks pregnant and they would be parents for the first time. This was something they were going to tell his parents on Sunday, September 8 - News Daniel would never be able to share.

Unfortunately, Bri lost the baby a few weeks after the crash.

Dan has created a video of his son Daniel's life, one that was shown at the memorial and will be once again shown at Kirkpatrick's sentencing.

Kirkpatrick has been charged with a single count of misdemeanor manslaughter in violation of Penal Code 192(c)(2), negligence while driving.

"This was a choice, not an accident," said Dan who still wonders why the end of his son's life carries with it a misdemeanor charge.