Police charge semi driver in 30-mile chase
A Michigan truck driver who led several area police departments on a slow chase for nearly 30 miles on Interstate 270 Wednesday night has been charged with impaired driving and other offenses.
Initially, police suspected that Barry Austin Demings, 63, of Redford Township in suburban Detroit, might have had a medical problem that led him to drive erratically and ignore orders to stop. But Hilliard police Thursday charged Demings with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, lane violations and failure to comply, said Officer Hyda Slone, a department spokeswoman.
A blood sample was taken when Demings was transported to the hospital; police are awaiting the results of a toxicology report for alcohol and/or drugs.
Hilliard police first received calls at 7:24 p.m. about the truck near the Tuttle Crossing Boulevard exit. Officers followed it as Demings drove south on the outerbelt, the semi weaving from lane to lane at highway speeds. Demings did not follow orders to stop, police said.
More than a dozen units from Columbus police and other departments joined in the chase, clearing the way along the interstate ahead of the semi and riding alongside and behind it.
Police eventually used stop sticks, flattening the front two tires on the tractor and some tires on the trailer to bring it to a stop south of the I-270 Whitehall-Reynoldsburg exit on the city's Far East Side, Columbus police said.
Northbound lanes of I-270 were shut down for more than an hour Wednesday evening.
The truck, which belongs to Ross Trans and Services in Waterford Township, Michigan, was carrying 43,000 gallons of beverage syrup.