A truck driver admitted to police he fell asleep at the wheel and caused a crash on I-285 that sent two people to the hospital, damaged a median wall and created major traffic delays during rush hour Friday morning.
Tye Trimble, 42, was found four hours later sleeping in the back yard of a nearby home after he left the crash scene, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Trimble said he left the accident scene because he was driving without a license.
“This section of 285 has no sound barrier walls,” Sandy Springs police Capt. Mike Lindstrom said. “The driver would have to just climb up an embankment and through woods that separate the interstate from the neighborhood.”
Trimble’s box truck crossed several lanes of westbound I-285 at Glenridge Drive, struck two vehicles, took out part of a median wall and caused delays on the Outer Loop at the height of the morning rush hour, police said.
The truck hit the wall so hard that “debris from the median wall actually went into the eastbound lanes,” Lindstrom said.
Several vehicles were damaged. Two people were taken to an area hospital with minor injuries.
“We’re not sure right now if the damage was caused from the debris flying and striking the vehicle or hitting the roadway and then coming up after the fact,” Lindstrom said.
At some point in the morning, the crash blocked all eastbound and several westbound lanes, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. All lanes reopened just before 6:50 a.m.
» For updated traffic information, listen to News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and follow @ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter.
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