WILMINGTON — A semi-truck went onto the exit ramp for the weigh station north of Wilmington, through the concrete barriers, and through the structure, totaling the truck and the station on Saturday.
“There was no braking,” said Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant Anthony Lauer. “He came off the ramp, he went through a grassy area, drove through some median barriers drove right through the building and out the other side. … They were both destroyed.”
Lauer said the truck, which... was delivering a full load of water to a local Kroger, was traveling at 70 miles per hour and weighed at least 80,000 pounds.
“Even I was a little surprised” at the damage it did, said Lauer, who has been a state trooper for several years. “Fortunately, the building was unoccupied.”
The driver, Bobby Summerall, 44, of Columbus but working for a Groveport company, might have been drunk, Lauer said. State troopers obtained a blood sample but were waiting for lab results Monday.
Charges are pending against Summerall while state troopers wait for his condition to improve. Summerall was flown for care to Miami Valley Hospital, where he remained Monday in critical condition.
OSHP, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Port William Fire Department and Miami Valley Hospital’s care flight team all responded to the incident.
OSHP continues to investigate the crash.
I-71 southbound Scalehouse between Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio.
“There was no braking,” said Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant Anthony Lauer. “He came off the ramp, he went through a grassy area, drove through some median barriers drove right through the building and out the other side. … They were both destroyed.”
Lauer said the truck, which... was delivering a full load of water to a local Kroger, was traveling at 70 miles per hour and weighed at least 80,000 pounds.
“Even I was a little surprised” at the damage it did, said Lauer, who has been a state trooper for several years. “Fortunately, the building was unoccupied.”
The driver, Bobby Summerall, 44, of Columbus but working for a Groveport company, might have been drunk, Lauer said. State troopers obtained a blood sample but were waiting for lab results Monday.
Charges are pending against Summerall while state troopers wait for his condition to improve. Summerall was flown for care to Miami Valley Hospital, where he remained Monday in critical condition.
OSHP, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Port William Fire Department and Miami Valley Hospital’s care flight team all responded to the incident.
OSHP continues to investigate the crash.
I-71 southbound Scalehouse between Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio.
