(Cleveland)- A crash on Northbound I-71 that closed the freeway during most of Thursday morning's rush hour was caused by a wrong way driver, who may have been driving while drunk, whose car clipped the front corner of an oncoming tractor trailer.
Cleveland Police say the semi was northbound on 71 near West 25th Street, driven by Lawrence J. Marinelli. Marinelli's rig was clipped in the left front corner by a wrong way car, driven by Stephen Howard. Howard's car then went into a counter-clockwise spin, and hit a northbound car driven by Gary Schlairet.
As of early Thursday afternoon, Howard was in critical condition, Schlariet was in serious condition. Marinelli was not injured.
Cleveland Police say Howard was possibly driving while impaired. Charges have not been filed, pending test results.