ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI — A 73-year-old man was killed Thursday afternoon after two tires separated from a semi-truck on Interstate 64 in west St. Louis County, became airborne, and crashed through the roof of his Chevrolet Bolt, striking him inside the vehicle.
The Crash
The incident occurred at approximately 2 p.m. on April 23 on I-64 just west of Interstate 270. A Volvo VNL lost two left-side road unit tires, which became airborne and traveled through the roof of the Chevrolet Bolt traveling below. West County EMS and Fire transported the driver to Mercy Hospital St. Louis, where he was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m.
The 64-year-old driver of the Volvo VNL remained at the scene and is cooperating with authorities. He has not been publicly identified. The cause of the tire separation has not been determined. The crash caused major traffic backups for more than two hours leading into the evening rush hour, with congestion spreading to Conway and Mason roads in Town and Country.
The Victim
The driver was identified as Ray Hartmann, a journalist, broadcaster, and former Missouri Congressional candidate. He was 73 years old and is survived by his wife Kerri and two children, Ben and Brielle, who were traveling home from college when the crash occurred.
Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977 and co-founded the long-running Nine PBS debate program Donnybrook in 1987, where he remained a fixture for nearly four decades. He later revived St. Louis Magazine in 1998 and hosted a radio show on KTRS. He retired from journalism in 2024 after an unsuccessful bid for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat, running as a Democrat against U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner. He had continued writing on a Substack after leaving Donnybrook for his congressional campaign.
Longtime friend and attorney Andy Leonard released a statement on behalf of the family. “His wife, Kerri Hartmann, and I were at Mercy Hospital when the doctors explained that he did not respond to their efforts. We’d like to thank the police officers who came to the scene and the doctors and staff at Mercy Hospital, who were informative and kind. The family asks you to respect their privacy at this time,” Leonard said.
Nine PBS said in a statement: “The entire team at Nine PBS, along with past and present Donnybrookers, are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Ray Hartmann. Ray was a cornerstone of St. Louis journalism and a foundational voice of Donnybrook, but most of all, he was our beloved friend. For nearly four decades, Ray was at the Donnybrook roundtable, rarely missing a week, delighting viewers with quick-witted and highly opinionated conversations about issues shaping our region.”
What Went Wrong
Attorney Jay Kanzler, who knew Hartmann personally, reflected on the crash. “You start to think of, well, what went wrong? Was it mechanical failure? Was it distracted driving, shifting of lanes? Was it inexperience? Those are all the things that you look at when something like this happens,” Kanzler said.
Donnybrook host Charlie Brennan remembered Hartmann fondly. “He was so vocal on Donnybrook. For God’s sake, you couldn’t shut the guy up. But off the air, he was caring, talked about his kids, bragged about his kids. He was so proud of his boy and his girl, and he was a great dad,” Brennan said.
Fellow Donnybrook panelist Bill McClellan said Hartmann was fearless. “He would criticize powerful people, popular people, whoever kind of fell into Ray’s radar. Ray would be willing to look at and go, ‘I think that’s wrong, and I think I’ll write about it,'” McClellan said. He also remembered the man behind the broadcaster: “Ray rented a train for his wedding, and we went from Union Station to Kimmswick. He was a great dad.”
Interviews courtesy of FOX 2 and Nine PBS.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
