Wrong-way crash on I-270 kills one, injures another in Columbus

A wrong-way driver entered Interstate 270 at West Broad Street, corrected course, then crashed near Georgesville Road, turning a pre-dawn tire change on Columbus’ southwest side into a fatal scene.

Columbus police were called to I-270 South and Georgesville Road at about 2:40 to 2:41 a.m. Monday, April 13, after a multi-vehicle crash involving an Audi A4. Jodi Tackett, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:51 a.m., and another adult was hospitalized in critical condition at Grant Medical Center. Police said two people had been changing a tire on a Toyota minivan on the left shoulder of the highway, out of the travel lanes, when the crash unfolded.

Investigators said Tackett was sitting in a Toyota Corolla parked about 50 feet behind the minivan when the Audi struck the Corolla from behind. The impact pushed the Corolla into the minivan and injured one of the adults working on the tire. Police later clarified that the Audi driver had apparently gotten onto the interstate the wrong way at West Broad Street and then corrected course before the crash. The driver ran from the scene on foot but was taken into custody a short distance away. Authorities have not said yet what charges may be filed.

The crash shut down I-270 South between I-70 East and Georgesville Road for more than four hours, forcing emergency crews and investigators to work through the early morning. The freeway reopened around 7:15 to 7:20 a.m., long after the first calls came in and well before the morning commute reached full volume.

The fatal wreck came just days after the Ohio Department of Transportation said it had installed 31 new wrong-way-driver detection cameras on ramps across central Ohio, including Franklin County. ODOT said the systems are designed to detect drivers entering ramps in the wrong direction, alert dispatchers quickly and notify law enforcement. The agency said wrong-way detection systems in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus have already detected nearly 300 wrong-way drivers, underscoring how often the threat reaches Ohio highways before a collision ever does.

The crash remains under investigation by Columbus police.