Driver in crash used fentanyl, patrol says
Incident shut down westbound lanes of I-70 near Clayton 2 hours.
A driver involved in a two-vehicle crash that shut down westbound lanes of Interstate 70 in Clayton for nearly two hours Thursday night admitted to using fentanyl earlier in the evening, troopers said.
The driver, identified as Jeremy Hembree, 32, was booked into Montgomery County Jail after the crash.
Troopers said a suspected drug found at the scene will be sent to the crime lab for testing.
Hembree, who is from NewParis, will be charged with OVI and possession of drugs, troopers said.Hembree was driving with a suspended license.
Sgt. Matt Robinson of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Dayton post said the accident, which happened around 7:40 p.m. just before the
exit to state Route 49 to Greenville, involved a gold Chrysler Town and Country minivan and another vehicle.
Robinson said, “It looks like one of the drivers is impaired on drugs. He was not injured and was driving the minivan.”
The minivan driver “did admit to narcotics use prior in the evening,” the sergeant said.
“There was some contraband found in the van... It appears to be an opiate of some kind, “Robinson said.
The driver of the other vehicle was taken to a hospital for treatment of nonlife threatening injuries, Robinson said.
A witness, Kevin Crank of Richmond, said he was helping people in a disabled vehicle off to the shoulder on I-70 when the gold minivan moved past him at high speed. Traffic up ahead was slowing because of a construction zone, Crank said.
He said the minivan hit the other vehicle “full force, about 75 to 80 miles an hour.”
Crank said he ran to the accident and helped the driver of the vehicle that had been hit. The man had some cuts, but seemed OK, Crank said. “The impact... sounded like a bomb going off... It was the worst sound I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Crank said he was thankful he was there. “I’m thankful I was able to help them,” he said. “And I’m thankful that guy (whose vehicle was struck) is alive.”