Wrong-way driver shuts down Interstate 17 overnight
Nov 25, 2014, 6:33 AM | Updated: 6:33 am
PHOENIX — A wrong-way driver shut down a freeway in the West Valley for several hours overnight.
There were no injuries.
Carmelina F. Long, 44, was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI. She drove the wrong way onto southbound Interstate 17 at Union Hills Drive shortly before 11 p.m. on Monday.
An Arizona highway patrol spokesman said the department received about thirty emergency calls in less than 10 minutes reporting the incident.
A Department of Public Safety officer was able to get into position on the freeway near Carefree Highway and struck the wrong-way vehicle’s left side with his patrol car.
The wrong-way car spun across several lanes before it rolled to a stop.
Long was booked into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Jail for aggravated assault, endangerment and criminal damage.
The freeway was shut down for four hours.
