Semi filled with luxury cars crushed under bridge

A tractor-trailer hauling a collection of privately owned luxury cars was "severely damaged" Wednesday while driving under the overpass on Lower Beech Street in Wilmington.

According to a police report, the driver thought he could clear the underpass – and guessed wrong. He was transporting cars including Porsches, Maseratis and Bentleys from Florida to Delaware.

The trailer, an enclosed climate-controlled vehicle transport, became stuck under the overpass, and several of the cars inside were severely damaged, the police report said.

The roadway was blocked for about nine hours, from 5:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. Thursday. Police and a towing company were able to free up the road only after partially disassembling the trailer to get it loose.

The bridge and rails were not damaged in the process, the police report said, and the driver was cited for inattentive driving.

Kathy Connell, a witness stuck in traffic while police assessed the damage, said the trailer had buckled at the top, and there was a lot of debris at the back.

"It was carrying new cars in the trailer. The [truck] driver looked understandably distressed," Connell said.

Contact Josephine Peterson at (302) 324-2856 or jhpeterson@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @jopeterson93.

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