liberty 5 vehicles involved in 2 crashes on I-80

Staff report

LIBERTY

The Ohio State Highway Patrol Warren Post is investigating two separate but related crashes involving two vehicles and three vehicles, respectively, that occurred about 3:50 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 80 eastbound in Liberty Township and closed the eastbound lane for about 30 minutes.

In the first crash, Nikolay Pashkevich, 51, of Utica, N.Y., was eastbound on I-80 in the left lane driving a tractor-trailer when a 17-year-old driver from Warren in a Chevrolet Cruze tried to slow down, began to slide and went off the left side of the highway into the median.

Pashkevich tried to slow in traffic and traveled off the highway, jackknifed and struck a guardrail.

In the second crash, Saralynn R. Essad, 19, of Girard, and Daniel R. Popa, 40, of New Castle, Pa., both traveling eastbound in the right lane, slowed in traffic to avoid Pashkevich as he jackknifed.

Khalid D. Alshammari, 35, of Cuyahoga Falls, also traveling eastbound, struck Popa in the rear, forcing him into the rear of Essad.

Essad, Popa and Alshammari suffered minor injuries.

Pashkevich was charged with failure to maintain reasonable control of his vehicle, and Alshammari was charged with failure to maintain an assured clear distance.