A New Castle man faces numerous charges in connection with a wrong-way collision late Thursday on Interstate 70. Just before 10:50 p.m. Thursday, Wayne County Dispatch put out a report of a pickup eastbound in the westbound lanes of Interstate 70 around the 149 mile marker exit. Shortly after 10:50 p.m., officers received a report of a collision at the 148 mile marker. Indiana State Police trooper Andy Wandersee arrived along with Wayne County deputies to find the driver of a red Ford Ranger had fled the scene. The pickup, heading the wrong direction, had struck two vehicles nearly head-on with the debris damaging a third vehicle, a semi.
The driver of the pickup was located a short time later, hiding behind the Indiana State Police Scale House at the 148 mile marker westbound. Arrested was Archie Napier, 42, of New Castle. He and a second driver were taken to Reid Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Napier is charged with Leaving the Scene of an Accident Causing Serious Bodily Injury, a Class D felony; Operating While Intoxicated Causing Serious Bodily Injury, a Class D felony; Operating While Intoxicated with a blood-alcohol content of .15 percent or higher, a Class A misdemeanor; Reckless Driving, a Class B misdemeanor, and Operating While Intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor.
