Police looking for third witness of fatal Christmas crash

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 3:22 PM Saturday, November 13, 2010

Centerville police want to talk to a man they believe had the best view of the fatal Christmas night crash on Interstate 675, but they say the man is not the reason for the crash.

“We don’t think there is another cause to this crash other than the actions of the driver who is deceased,” Centerville officer Matt Dunn said Tuesday, Dec. 29. “But the version from this driver will help us nail this down and bring this to closure ... This isn’t a deal where this guy is going to find out he’s wanted for vehicular homicide.”

Dunn said the Honda Civic driven by Mohammed Shaikh, 25, of Miamisburg, entered I-675 southbound at roughly the same time as three other cars, before crossing the median less than a half-mile later and hitting two northbound cars, killing Shaikh and sending six people to area hospitals.

Dunn said all of the other victims – a Miamisburg mother and her three daughters, plus two sisters from Urbana – were expected to survive, adding that four of them had been released from area hospitals.

Police have spoken to drivers of two of the three cars that entered the highway with Shaikh, but are looking for the third. That man is described as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, wearing a black Bengals stocking cap and driving a tan or beige sedan.

Witnesses told Centerville police that the man first stopped at the scene, then left before police could talk to him.

“We don’t have enough information to say for sure whether there was any contact between vehicles (before Shaikh crossed the median),” Dunn said. “There were some lane changes going on, and that’s when all this took place.”

Dunn said he doesn’t think ice played a role in the crash.

Anyone with information about the crash is urged to call Detective Nadia Dexter of Centerville police at (937) 433-7661.

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