COLUMBUS – One person was confirmed killed in a multi-vehicle accident that closed down the eastbound lanes of I-270 on the South Side during the Tuesday morning commute.
UPDATE 6/12/19: This article has been edited to include new information from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
The accident happened within yards of the location of a fatal accident last week, according to a spokesman for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
The accident, involving two tractor-trailers, a box truck, an SUV and a sedan was reported just west of Alum Creek Drive at 6:50 a.m. by Obetz police officers, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said.
An International tractor-trailer, was traveling eastbound on I-270 west of Alum Creek Drive when the driver, David Warner, 69, of Washington Court House, appears to have approached stopped traffic and swerved into the middle lane where the truck struck a Freightliner box truck and struck a 2006 Toyota Highlander with its rear tires, forcing the SUV off the road into a ditch.
The box truck continued eastbound in the left lane before the driver, Dalton Devine, 29, of Mt. Sterling, lost control and crossed back across the roadway to the right lane, hitting a 2011 Toyota Corolla, driven by Steven Michelsen, 56, which left the roadway and came to rest in a ditch as the box truck struck a 2014 Mack tractor-trailer driven by Billy Hartsock, 54, Baldwin said.
Michelsen was pronounced dead by Hamilton Township medics at 07:08 a.m., Baldwin said.
Devine was transported to Mount Carmel East hospital in stable condition and the driver of the Toyota SUV, John Knore, 77, of Columbus, was listed in stable condition at Grant Medical Center, Baldwin said.
There was no indication that alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash, which Baldwin said was still under investigation.
One person was killed in an accident along the same stretch of interstate on June 3 after a dump truck suffered a tire blowout.