Wrong-way driver was ‘ impaired,’ police say

Columbus Police have released the name of a New Lexington woman killed when her car was struck by a wrong-way driver Tuesday on the Southeast Side.

Betty Griggs, 63, was pronounced dead at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center following the crash at 12:49 p.m. on a ramp from eastbound Refugee Road to westbound Route 33, Sgt. Brooke Wilson of the police accident investigation unit said.

Wilson said Richard Hough, 41, of Columbus was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe in the wrong direction on the ramp from Refugee and collided head-on with Griggs’ 2014 Nissan Sentra, which was traveling in the correct direction on the same ramp.

A woman and her two young daughters riding in Griggs’ car were taken to hospitals in critical condition. Amanda Griggs, 38, of Columbus was transported to Grant Medical, where she remained Wednesday night. Her daughters, Drea Griggs, 8, and Nola Cotton, 2, were taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Only one of them is still at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which a hospital official says it is not authorized to release any additional information.

Betty Griggs was the mother-in-law of Amanda Griggs and the grandmother of Drea Griggs, police said.

Hough was taken in stable condition to Grant Medical, “where he was processed by police as an impaired driver,” Wilson said. Hough was still in the hospital Wednesday night.

When Columbus police officers first arrived at the crash scene, one officer discovered that Hough had a baggie of suspected marijuana on him, according to a search warrant filed in Franklin County Municipal Court.

Hough was uncooperative and belligerent with police officers and staff at Grant, refusing to answer questions, court records say. A municipal court judge granted Columbus police a warrant to obtain a blood test because of circumstances concerning the crash and Hough’s “erratic behavior.”

Results from the blood test are pending.

No charges have been filed yet in connection with the crash.

Griggs’ death is the city’s 31st traffic fatality of 2017. Last year, there was a total of 59 people killed in traffic crashes throughout the city.