Phoenix, AZ : Wrong-way SAAB teenager driver allegedly causes 5-car crash on Tuesday morning July 29th 2014
Police say an 18 year-old was behind the wheel of a silver SAAB when he crashed head-on into oncoming traffic this morning.
"Immediately, I thought wrong-way drivers," said Virgin Diaz.
Virgil Diaz's truck was hit head on, he told us what was going through his mind as the alleged wrong-way driver approached.
"How can I avoid this, and at the same time what the heck is he doing, going the wrong direction," said Diaz.
Police say five cars were damaged, including the wrong-way drivers, some were hit head on. In all seven people were involved in the crash, three of them had to be taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
One of those injured included an 18-year-old identified as Ivan Renteria of Phoenix, police say he showed signs of impairment.
The crash shut down 75th Avenue south of Glendale for most of the morning.
"You don't expect to see a vehicle traveling the wrong-way, they did the best they could to avoid a collision and unfortunately they were not able to get away from the wrong-way vehicle," said Jay O'Neill with the Glendale Police Department.
Police say it appears the driver was headed the wrong-way for a short time, but long enough to do plenty of damage.
The driver was treated and released from the hospital. At this point, he has not been booked into jail but police did collect a blood sample to determine whether he was impaired.
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Wrong-way driver allegedly causes 5-car crash