Troopers: Car went wrong way on freeway

Arkansas State Police said an intoxicated Little Rock woman was arrested early Thursday after she drove about 13 miles in the wrong direction on interstates in Pulaski County.

Authorities tried to stop Ritha Vitalis Ntemi, 30, about 2:55 a.m. as she drove north in the southbound lane of Interstate 430 near Stagecoach Road in Little Rock, state police spokesman Liz Chapman said. But Ntemi continued driving, according to state police.

She reportedly crossed the I-430 bridge over the Arkansas River and then traveled east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 40. Chapman said Ntemi stopped her vehicle near Crystal Hill Road in North Little Rock about 3:06 a.m. and was arrested. No injuries were reported. Ntemi faces charges of driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a chemical test, driving the wrong way on a one-way road and reckless driving, all of which are misdemeanor offenses.

She was not listed on the Pulaski County jail roster late Thursday.

Chapman said she did not know how fast Ntemi was driving. She noted that Ntemi was not cited for speeding.

“Obviously you could drive 10 miles per hour, but if you’re going the wrong way, we have a problem,” she said.

Chapman said she didn’t know whether troopers had driven in the wrong direction as they pursued Ntemi’s vehicle. She said they are trained to refrain from doing so.

Chapman, a six-year veteran of the agency, said troopers are taught to position themselves along the correct side of the road and use lights, sirens and other equipment to get the attention of wrong-way drivers. She said stopping wrong-way drivers can be difficult.

“That was always the scariest call that I responded to because you never know when you’re going to run into them,” Chapman said.

In August, state Trooper Roy Moomey was severely injured after he responded to a report of a wrong-way driver on I-40 near Alma. Moomey was trying to direct motorists away from the oncoming vehicle, when his car crashed head-on into it. That oncoming vehicle was driven by Matthew Chaote, 24, of Fort Smith.

Choate was killed. Moomey remains on medical leave, according to state police.

Other crashes involving wrong-way drivers have claimed multiple lives in Arkansas.

In June, Gary DiGiuseppe, 60, was driving a 2005 Ford south over the I-430 bridge when a 1998 Buick traveling in the wrong direction crashed into his vehicle head-on, state police reported. The Buick, driven by Felecia Stevenson, 28, of Little Rock, then caught fire.

DiGiuseppe, who had been driving to work, and Stevenson were killed.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department last month approved a $3.1 million project aimed at reducing wrong-way crashes by installing warning signs and markings with better visibility on off-ramps.