A New Jersey truck driver was in critical condition on Thursday after her tanker crossed the median on U.S. 33 and overturned near Scottslawn Road in Marysville, Ohio, Marysville Matters reported. Capt. Nathan Sachs of the Marysville Police Department said Lachelle Johnson, 52, appeared to suffer a medical emergency and lose consciousness while driving westbound at about 10:43 a.m., according to the report.

Source: Marysville Matters

Her truck crossed the median just before the Scottslawn Road overpass, travelled beneath the bridge and overturned on the eastbound side, the report said. Johnson was hauling liquid egg for TRD Trucking, a New Jersey company. Officers who approached the cab found her still secured by her seat belt; they cut her free, removed her from the cab and began CPR until Marysville fire medics arrived, Sachs said, according to Marysville Matters. A local television report of the closure likewise said the Marysville Police Department believed the semi driver had a medical emergency, that no other vehicles were involved, and that U.S. 33 eastbound was shut down with the semi on its side.

Source: Local TV report of the U.S. 33 closure

10:43 a.m.Time of the U.S. 33 tanker crash on Thursday
2:17 p.m.Time U.S. 33 reopened, Marysville Matters reported
2Overturned trucks handled on the same stretch that morning
0Other vehicles involved in the tanker crash, police said

Johnson was taken to Memorial Hospital and later transferred to Dublin Methodist Hospital in critical condition, Marysville Matters reported. Officers initially saw liquid leaking from the tanker and did not know what it contained, according to the report.

Source: Marysville Matters

Police were already working nearby because of an earlier crash at 8:56 a.m., when a semi hauling an industrial forklift overturned while turning from Scottslawn Road onto the eastbound U.S. 33 entrance ramp, the report said. No one was injured in that earlier crash, but the closed ramp complicated the detour after Johnson's crash: eastbound drivers were routed along Industrial Parkway, traffic backed up near U.S. 42, and a Union County sheriff's deputy helped direct vehicles, according to Marysville Matters. The highway reopened at 2:17 p.m., and Johnson's crash remains under investigation, the report said.

Source: Marysville Matters

What is solid

  • Marysville police, quoted by Marysville Matters, say the tanker crossed the U.S. 33 median near Scottslawn Road at about 10:43 a.m. and overturned on the eastbound side; the driver was taken to hospital in critical condition.
  • A local TV report independently confirms the closure, the overturned semi and police's belief that the driver had a medical emergency, with no other vehicles involved.
  • U.S. 33 reopened at 2:17 p.m., Marysville Matters reported.

What is only claimed

  • That the driver suffered a medical emergency is police's preliminary assessment, reported by both outlets — the crash remains under investigation and no final cause has been announced.