State patrol, Miamisburg, Miami Twp. cruisers hit on I-75 in 2 wrecks; officers ID’d, driver cited

Both crashes occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. on northbound I-75 just past the Ohio 725 exit and the first involved a suspected impaired driver, officials said.

The state patrol said Sunday afternoon it had no details about the first wreck or information on the driver. The second crash involved David E. Nicholson, 74, of Richmond, Indiana, who was cited for failing to drive within marked lanes and failing to move over for an emergency vehicle, the state patrol said.

“It’s not an everyday occurrence,” Sedlak said of the wrecks at the same scene. “But what is generally routine is anytime officers are out on the highway conducting any sort of officials business — traffic stops generally are the case — it is always very dangerous and also you always have to be very alert to these types of things.

“In this case … two drivers striking in two separate incidences — that is unusual,” he added. “But the safety aspect of what you have to do when you’re on the highway is not unusual. It’s a very dangerous place to be.”

Sedlak said Miamisburg responded to a request from Miami Twp. about possible drug activity involving a traffic stop.

The Miami Twp. cruisers were hit by a suspected impaired driver, and later Miamisburg and state patrol units were hit by a 2017 GMC pickup truck driven by Nicholson, authorities said.

Miamisburg Officer Josh Nelson suffered minor injuries, as did the department’s K-9 officer, Buck, Sedlak said.

A trooper and Nicholson were transported to Kettering Hospital and the trooper was released, according to the OSHP.

Nicholson failed to move over and struck an occupied Miamisburg cruiser, which then struck an occupied OSHP cruiser, which then struck an unoccupied Miamisburg K-9 cruiser, according to troopers.

All three cruisers in the second crash were stationary with their emergency lights activated providing traffic control around a prior crash that was under investigation, the state patrol said.

The speed of the vehicle that hit the cruiser is not clear, officials said. Traffic was shut down on the highway for a short time after the wrecks, officials said.