Courtesy WXIN-Indianapolis
Police: Semi driver and wife drank, argued before truck jackknifed
POSTED 5:42 AM, OCTOBER 24, 2014, BY KYLEE WIERKS - ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
RICHMOND, Ind. (Oct. 24, 2014) – Eastbound I-70 reopened Friday morning after a semi truck driver was arrested on OWI and battery charges.
At around 2 a.m. state police responded to a report of a semi jackknifed across the eastbound lanes of I-70 and a female screaming for help at the 148 mile marker, just west of the Williamsburg Pike exit.
When officers arrived they found the semi with approximately 700 feet of cable barrier stretched behind it in the roadway.
The driver of the semi, Sheldon L. Plant, 50, Old Orchard Beach, Maine, was uninjured.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Plant and his wife, who was also in the truck, had been drinking while Plant was driving.
Then they got into a physical altercation with each other–all while Plant was still behind the wheel.
Plant lost control of the truck and drove into the median, hitting the cable barrier.
In an attempt to leave the scene, he drove out of the median back onto eastbound I-70 with the cable still hooked to the truck.
The semi stretched the cable across the highway before the cable stopped the truck, causing it to jackknife and block the interstate for over two and a half hours.
After further investigation, Plant was arrested for OWI endangerment (Class “A” misdemeanor), domestic battery (Class “A” misdemeanor) and public intoxication (Class “B” misdemeanor).
Plant had a blood alcohol level of more than two times the legal limit of .08% at the time of the crash, police said.
Police: Semi driver and wife drank, argued before truck jackknifed
POSTED 5:42 AM, OCTOBER 24, 2014, BY KYLEE WIERKS - ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
RICHMOND, Ind. (Oct. 24, 2014) – Eastbound I-70 reopened Friday morning after a semi truck driver was arrested on OWI and battery charges.
At around 2 a.m. state police responded to a report of a semi jackknifed across the eastbound lanes of I-70 and a female screaming for help at the 148 mile marker, just west of the Williamsburg Pike exit.
When officers arrived they found the semi with approximately 700 feet of cable barrier stretched behind it in the roadway.
The driver of the semi, Sheldon L. Plant, 50, Old Orchard Beach, Maine, was uninjured.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Plant and his wife, who was also in the truck, had been drinking while Plant was driving.
Then they got into a physical altercation with each other–all while Plant was still behind the wheel.
Plant lost control of the truck and drove into the median, hitting the cable barrier.
In an attempt to leave the scene, he drove out of the median back onto eastbound I-70 with the cable still hooked to the truck.
The semi stretched the cable across the highway before the cable stopped the truck, causing it to jackknife and block the interstate for over two and a half hours.
After further investigation, Plant was arrested for OWI endangerment (Class “A” misdemeanor), domestic battery (Class “A” misdemeanor) and public intoxication (Class “B” misdemeanor).
Plant had a blood alcohol level of more than two times the legal limit of .08% at the time of the crash, police said.
