One person is dead and another man has been charged with murder after a driver drove the wrong way onto southbound Interstate 65 near the Kentucky State Fairgrounds on Sunday and barreled into several other vehicles before bursting into flames, police officials say.
Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said eyewitnesses saw a pickup truck drive north on the southbound lanes of I-65 near the Watterson Expressway exit before crashing into seven other vehicles around 2:30 p.m.
Traffic deaths:Woman killed in car crash Saturday morning on I-65 identified
A passenger in one of the other vehicles was pronounced dead at the scene. Three other people, including the driver of the pickup truck, were transported to the University of Louisville Hospital with what appear to be non-life threatening injuries, Mitchell said.
The man accused of driving a car the wrong way on the interstate is Manchester, Tennessee resident Thomas Catalina, according to his arrest citation.
The LMPD arrest report said his car “struck several vehicles at a high rate of speed before overturning and catching fire,” with some witnesses claiming Catalina’s vehicle, a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 truck, was traveling over 100 mph before the crash.
Catalina, according to the arrest citation, appeared impaired when he spoke with officers at the scene. He was taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where his LMPD arrest report said he told an officer he had used methamphetamine several days ago, before later stating “he didn’t know but it may have been sooner.” He also told police he was “driving as fast as the truck would go and that drugs had messed him up.”
In the meantime, Catalina has been charged with murder, fourth-degree assault, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substances and failure to maintain insurance. He’s due back in court Thursday morning, according to court records.
One person is dead and another man has been charged with murder after a driver drove the wrong way onto southbound Interstate 65 near the Kentucky State Fairgrounds on Sunday and barreled into several other vehicles before bursting into flames, police officials say.
Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said eyewitnesses saw a pickup truck drive north on the southbound lanes of I-65 near the Watterson Expressway exit before crashing into seven other vehicles around 2:30 p.m.
Traffic deaths:Woman killed in car crash Saturday morning on I-65 identified
A passenger in one of the other vehicles was pronounced dead at the scene. Three other people, including the driver of the pickup truck, were transported to the University of Louisville Hospital with what appear to be non-life threatening injuries, Mitchell said.
The man accused of driving a car the wrong way on the interstate is Manchester, Tennessee resident Thomas Catalina, according to his arrest citation.
The LMPD arrest report said his car “struck several vehicles at a high rate of speed before overturning and catching fire,” with some witnesses claiming Catalina’s vehicle, a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 truck, was traveling over 100 mph before the crash.
Catalina, according to the arrest citation, appeared impaired when he spoke with officers at the scene. He was taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where his LMPD arrest report said he told an officer he had used methamphetamine several days ago, before later stating “he didn’t know but it may have been sooner.” He also told police he was “driving as fast as the truck would go and that drugs had messed him up.”
In the meantime, Catalina has been charged with murder, fourth-degree assault, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substances and failure to maintain insurance. He’s due back in court Thursday morning, according to court records.
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