MADISON TWP. — The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating after a 32-year-old Euclid man crashed into an OSHP cruiser, with two troopers inside, and struck two tow truck operators on I-90 who were assisting with an earlier crash.
The incident happened Thursday evening on I-90 westbound in Madison Township. News 5 received video of the incident from the Ohio Department of Transportation through a public records request.
The footage shows flashing lights from emergency vehicles parked on the berm, including a highway patrol car that OSHP said had its lights activated. Traffic passes by slowly. Then, a Dodge Charger swerves off course, hits the patrol car, and strikes the tow truck operators from Fast and Friendly Repair and Towing.
Joshua Holstein owns the towing business and is one of the men who was struck. News 5's Damon Maloney spoke to him Friday afternoon.
"I just remember going airborne… sliding and then you know getting up and seeing what was going on, worrying about my employee,” Holstein said. “So, we got up, got over to him to try to get aid to him as fast as we could."
Holstein and his employee went to area hospitals. Holstein had minor injuries—mainly bumps and bruises. His employee has serious injuries, but Holstein said he's expected to recover.
The troopers weren’t hurt.
Holstein said the job is inherently dangerous.
“You get a lot of close calls. People not paying attention. It's a pretty scary job, but you never want to be this close to it you know,” Holstein said. “It definitely could have went way differently. We're blessed that it didn't.”
Maloney also spoke to Sgt. Jeremy Kindler with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
He said emergency workers initially were called to the area for a semi that jackknifed and went down an embankment, and the tow truck drivers had walked up to the troopers’ car to chat.
“When they were at that trooper's window simultaneously this other driver had lost control of his vehicle struck the patrol car and then at the same time struck the two wrecker operators sending them in the air,” Kindler said.
Holstein said, “We were asking about what was the cargo of the truck and what was the weight and trying to get everything together so we could come up with a game plan to recover it.”
Kindler said Ohio’s Move Over Law is in place for a reason. OSHP said the law “requires motorists to cautiously shift over one lane or slow down if changing lanes is not possible when passing any vehicle with flashing lights on the side of the road.”
Kindler said it’s important to know the law and follow it at all times. Due to snow and ice conditions Thursday night he mentioned at the time of the crash, that section of I-90 had a variable speed zone set at 40 miles per hour.
“Reduce your speed. Slow down. Move over and give them space to work whatever they're working on the side of the road,” Kindler said.
Holstein said what happened should be a wake-up call that everyone on the roads, including roadside workers, deserves to be safe.
“When you see the crews on the side of the road just slow down… move over,” Holstein said.
OSHP said the investigation involving the driver who crashed into their patrol car and struck the men is ongoing. It said alcohol and drug impairment do not appear to be contributing factors.
