TOLEDO, Ohio —
Toledo police are continuing to investigate a deadly crash last month on I-280 near the Greenbelt Parkway.
Around 10:15 p.m. on March 27, 80-year-old Ellis Monhollen entered I-280 on an off ramp and hit another driver, according to an updated police report.
The other driver, 24-year-old Jacob Twietmeyer, was partially ejected and taken to an area hospital. The Toledo Police Department initially reported Twietmeyer was driving the wrong way.
TPD Sgt. Aaron Riter said when officers initially reported to the scene, witnesses said there was a red truck driving the wrong way.
Riter said another witness later said they saw the truck going the correct way closer to Oregon.
When the department realized that Monhollen was going the wrong way, an updated crash report was released.
Riter said TPD is still investigating the crash.
"We don't know the exact reason that he would've gotten on the wrong way," Riter said. "If he was distracted by something or not paying attention or whatever the case was. We're still investigating a few things, but we don't know definitively yet."
Where the crash happened is not an area of concern, Riter said. He said there has been a total of three accidents where the crash happened since January of 2022 and that the signage in the area is not an issue.
"If you get on from Galena, there's one for the entrance, one for the exit," Riter said. "The exit's clearly marked with bright red signs that are reflective at night that spell out wrong way."
If someone finds themselves going the wrong way up an exit ramp, Riter said drivers should pull over onto the shoulder and immediately stop. He said drivers should wait for traffic to clear and make a U-turn. If traffic is too busy, he said to call for assistance and help will be sent to stop traffic to move the driver in the right direction.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which is something Riter said TPD is focusing on.
"There's a lot of people that are on their phones and it'd be a lot safer throughout the entire city if people would stay off their phones," Riter said.
Drivers should pay attention to speed limits and signage as well, he said.