Fla. man killed in wrong-way crash on I-80

Staff report

LIBERTY

The Ohio State Highway Patrol has identified the driver who died in an early-morning crash Wednesday on Interstate 80 as Dennis E. Roller II, 54, of Pensacola, Fla., who was in the area visiting relatives.

Roller traveled the wrong way on I-80 at 12:54 a.m. in a rented Ford Flex and was killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer going the correct way in the westbound lane just west of state Route 11.

The semi driver, Muazam Shah, 33, of Dublin, Ohio, was not injured. Westbound I-80 near state Route 11 was closed because of the accident but reopened a few hours later, the patrol said.

Police are working to determine if alcohol was a factor in the crash, the patrol said.

Roller was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes when he collided with the semi. Shah was in the westbound lanes in the tractor-trailer. The Ford Flex struck the left front of the semi.

Roller was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital in critical condition and later died.

The patrol is investigating, and the Liberty police and fire departments, as well as Ohio Department of Transportation, assisted. Vienna Township provided ambulance services.