Deadly wrong-way crash shuts down Loop 101 southbound in Glendale
Jul 31, 2019, 5:48 AM | Updated: 2:07 pm
(KTAR News Photo/Jim Cross)
(KTAR News Photo/Jim Cross)
PHOENIX – One driver was killed and another was injured in a wrong-way accident late Tuesday on Loop 101 in Glendale.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety on Wednesday identified the victim as Laiquan Lemon, 20, of Goodyear.
A 22-year-old Phoenix woman driving a Chevrolet Malibu was driving north in southbound lanes near Union Hills Drive when she hit Lemon’s Nissan sedan, the agency said.
The woman suffered injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
Reminder: SB Loop 101 is closed at 75th Avenue. Suggested detours are 59th, 67th or 75th avenues to Bell Road. (This is expected to be an extended closure.) #aztraffic #glendaleaz pic.twitter.com/iGUTkzGrun
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) July 31, 2019
Detectives were working to see if impairment was a factor in the crash.
The 11 p.m. wreck shut down southbound lanes at 75th Avenue, the Arizona Department of Transportation said.
That section of the freeway was closed for more than eight hours, reopening during Wednesday’s commuter drive around 7:30 a.m.
Trooper Jonathan Montes said preliminary reports indicated another vehicle was sideswiped but no one was hurt and damage was minimal.
The driver of that car remained on the scene to talk with investigators.
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It was the third wrong-way driver on area freeways this week and the second on Loop 101.
A young woman was arrested on Loop 101 near Indian School Road on Monday, heading south in northbound lanes around 1:30 a.m.
She was stopped before she struck any other vehicles.
Tanner Wiss, 25, was charged with aggravated DUI and endangerment.
A 70-year-old woman, Sharon Weaver, crashed into a car on Interstate 17 north of Phoenix on Sunday night.
Weaver was driving north in southbound lanes near Sunset Point around 9 p.m.
Neither driver was seriously injured.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.
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