DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Police had to close a section of southbound Interstate 75 north of downtown Friday morning, May 16, after a car struck a police cruiser, turned the wrong way on the highway and struck a semi-trailer truck, according to Lt. Matt Carper of the Dayton police.

Southbound lanes of the highway were closed from the time of the accident at about 3:15 a.m. to about 6:45 a.m.

A section of Ohio 4 at I-75 was closed for about two hours earlier while hazardous materials crews cleaned up fuel spilled from the gas tank of a semi-trailer truck that struck a barrier in the construction area about 1 a.m., Carper said.

Carper said a police cruiser was stopped along Interstate 75, possibly in connection with the accident on Ohio 4, when a southbound car on I-75 struck the cruiser. The cruiser was not occupied, and no police officers were injured.

The driver that struck the cruiser then spun around and started driving north in the southbound lanes of I-75 as police approached. Carper said the driver got about a mile before he collided with a southbound truck, bounced off and hit another truck. Neither semi-trailer truck driver was injured.

Carper said the driver then got out of his damaged car and attempted to flee on foot. He was apprehended a short distance away.

Carper identified the driver as Allen Cressel Jr., 37, of Dayton. Paramedics took Cressel to Miami Valley Hospital to be treated for injuries received in the accident, and he remained in the hospital Friday morning in fair condition.

Carper said Cressel was driving with a suspended license. He said the driver will be cited for that as well as for the accidents on the highway.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2395 or jcummings@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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