OVI check: Passenger zooms off in car, crashes as driver takes sobriety tests

DAYTON — A passenger in a car detained at an OVI checkpoint Friday night hopped in the driver’s seat, took off and crashed into a pole while the driver was taking a sobriety test.

The driver was held for testing around 10 p.m. at a Montgomery County OVI Task Force check in the area of Salem and Hillcrest avenues in Dayton.

That’s when one of his two passengers got in the driver’s seat and drove off, Sgt. Matt Robinson of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Dayton Post said.

The four-door sedan then crashed into a pole in the 3300 block of North Main Street. The car glanced off the pole into the middle of the street, blocking the southbound lanes of North Main Street, which was covered in debris.

The two occupants bailed and evaded capture. However, the detained driver provided police with their names.

Law enforcement that responded to the scene included the highway patrol, Dayton police and Montgomery County deputies.

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