Maryland family hit by alleged drunk driver traveling in wrong direction on Toledo expressway
TOLEDO, OH -- Five members of a Maryland family , a mother and four children, were killed Sunday night in a horrific head-on crash on the ramp from southbound I-75 to southbound I-280 in Toledo, police said.
Investigators said the victims were among eight family members traveling in a minivan. Killed were 36-year-old Bethany Griffin, 10-year-old Jordan Griffin, 10-year-old Haley Burkman, 7-year-old Lacie Burkman, and 6-month-old Vadi Griffin. Injured in the crash were 36-year-old Danny Griffin, 8-year-old Sidney Griffin, and 8-year-old Beu Burkman. All were from Parkville, Maryland.
They identified the driver of the pick-up as 24-year-old Michael Gagnon, of Adrian, Michigan.
Toledo police are still conducting their investigation but say the accident happened around 10:55 p.m. when Gagnon was allegedly driving a large F-350 Ford pick-up traveling in the wrong direction on I-280 going northbound in the southbound lanes. He struck the Chevy Astro van nearly head-on, sheering the right side off.
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Griffin Burkman family |
Witnesses described the accident scene saying there were Christmas presents, an infant car seat, and debris all over the expressway.
Police have been able to piece together a series of events leading up to the fatal crash. Investigators say Gagnon allegedly left a bar in Oregon, Ohio. He stopped at a Taco Bell on Navarre Avenue where employees at the drive-thru said he was noticeably intoxicated. They called 9-1-1, but Gagnon left before police arrived.
Gagnon started his deadly trek on I-280 at Navarre Avenue, going northbound in the southbound lanes.
Meanwhile Danny Griffin was driving his family home to Maryland after visiting family in Michigan for the holidays. He was on the ramp from southbound I-75 to southbound I-280 when the two vehicles collided.
Police said that both drivers tried to avoid one another, but struck nearly head-on. The force of the crash sheared off the right side of the
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Vadi Griffin, 2 months old |
minivan and ejecting several passengers. Four of the victims died at the scene and 2-month-old Vadi Griffin, who was secured in a child seat, died at St. Vincent’s Mercy Medical Center.
Police said that Gagnon smelled of alcohol at the scene and was taken to St. Vincent’s Mercy Medical Center. They had to get a search warrant to obtain a blood sample from him. While police have not released the results of that sample, sources close to the investigation say Gagnon had a preliminary blood alcohol level of .254, over three times the legal limit in Ohio.
Sgt. Jeff Pachell, one of the Toledo police investigators said that Gagnon was combative at times and refused to submit a blood sample. He said that Toledo Municipal Court Judge Timothy Kuhlman had to sign the search warrant to obtain the sample.
Police say Gagnon was admitted for a short time to the St. Vincent I-C-U and was to be officially charged Wednesday. The charges are aggravated vehicular homicide.
As of Tuesday evening, Danny Griffin was in serious condition and Sidney Griffin was in critical condition. Beu Burkman left the hospital on Monday.
THE 9-1-1 CALLS
Shelly Hymore of Toledo had just left the American Legion Post and was heading with two friends to grab a late meal on Woodville Road in Northwood. She was in her car with her friends traveling on I-280 southbound near Starr Avenue, when Gagnon’s truck went speeding by her in the wrong direction.
“I was driving and saw the headlights. I thought the truck was in the northbound lanes, then realized he was heading for me. He went by me at a high-rate of speed. I immediately called 9-1-1,” she said.
Hymore said she feels lucky to be alive but is devastated that no one stopped the driver before the family was killed.
That wasn’t the first call that Gagnon was apparently driving drunk in the area.
At 10:46 p.m. employees at the Taco Bell on Navarre Avenue in Oregon, Ohio notified police after describing an intoxicated driver who stopped at their drive-thru.
“They said the man smelled of alcohol and had obvious slurred speed,” said Ted Moore, Oregon police officer who responded to the call. “When I arrived, he had already left.”
Officer Moore actually spotted a black truck heading westbound on Navarre as he responded to the call at the Taco Bell. But the truck had a ladder attachment to it, and that was not mentioned during the 9-1-1 call --- Plus the initial 9-1-1 call came in as a man passed out at the Taco Bell. So Officer Moore continued towards the Taco Bell.
“That was probably his truck that I spotted on Navarre, but by the time I got to the Taco Bell, and investigated, he already had too much time on me,” Moore said.
Officer Moore said that the logical assumption is Gagnon allegedly started his deadly trip on I-280 at Navarre Avenue, going north in the southbound lanes.
Almost immediately 9-1-1 calls started coming in.
“We had a call of a wrong way driver shortly after he left the Taco Bell. That call came from someone who spotted him between Starr Avenue and Navarre Avenue,. That call got transferred to Oregon because the caller said they were near Navarre Avenue,” said Moore.
Moore said that Taco Bell employees got a description of the truck and the license plate, and that plate matched the truck involved in the crash.
The ramp from I-75 southbound to I-280 southbound was closed for several hours while police clean-up the scene and conducted their criminal investigation. Michael Gagnon was charged Monday afternoon with 5 counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide.
