One killed, two injured in crash on I-270

One person was killed and two others were injured Tuesday in a five-vehicle crash on Interstate 270 near the Obetz village and Hamilton Township line on the southern outerbelt, the Franklin County sheriff’s office said.

Steven Michelsen, 56, of the Hilltop, was pronounced dead shortly after the crash, the sheriff’s office said. Two people were transported to hospitals in stable condition: Dalton Devine, 29, of Mount Sterling was taken to Mount Carmel East, and John Knore, 77, of the South Side, was taken to Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center, the sheriff’s office said.

The crash occurred at 6:52 a.m. on I-270 eastbound just west of the Alum Creek Drive exit, a Franklin County sheriff’s office dispatcher said.

The sheriff’s office said a tractor-trailer driven by David Warner, 69, of Washington Court House, swerved into the middle lane of eastbound I-270 when approaching stopped traffic and struck a box truck driven by Devine. The trailer on Warner’s truck then struck an SUV driven by Knore, shoving his vehicle into a ditch off the road, the sheriff’s office said.

After hitting the SUV, the tractor-trailer continued swerving out of control, back and forth across I-270 before striking a vehicle driven by Michelsen, forcing it off the roadway and into a ditch, the sheriff’s office said. The tractortrailer also struck a truck and trailer driven by 54-year-old Billy Hartsock before coming to a stop. The sheriff’s office did not list Hartsock among those injured.

The crash, which occurred during the morning commute, closed all lanes of I-270 east and some westbound lanes for hours. The Ohio Department of Transportation announced at noon that all lanes had been reopened.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Another fatal crash occurred in the same stretch of I-270 on June 3 when a dump truck traveling westbound blew a tire and crossed the grass median, striking three vehicles traveling eastbound, leaving one dead and four injured.