Crash, false bomb report shut I-35 for 5 hours
Massive traffic jam ensues after morning incident in South Austin.
A crash and a false bomb report on Interstate 35 in South Austin prompted police to shut down the highway in both directions for nearly five hours Thursday and created a major traffic jam from downtown Austin to outside Buda.
Austin police said they received a call at 10:02 a.m. about a vehicle speeding north on Interstate 35 near William Cannon Drive.
The vehicle crashed, went up in flames and sparked a small grass fire along the interstate, officials said.
Police, medics and firefighters responded and tracked down the driver at a nearby construction zone, who told them there was a bomb inside his car, Austin police Sgt. David Daniels said during a news conference Thursday.
The bomb squad located a suspicious package in the vehicle and a bottle containing a clear liquid, Daniels said.
Police declined to give more details about their contents, but both were deemed safe, police said.
The driver, who has yet to be identified, was taken to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center with minor injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services medics said.
He will be charged with driving while intoxicated, Daniels said, adding he was unsure whether the man would be charged with anything else.
The incident led authorities to shut down both the north- and southbound lanes of the highway between Slaughter Lane and William Cannon Drive, directing