Video: Heroin-related crash shuts down interstate - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports

One person was arrested following a heroin-related crash that shut down an entire interstate Saturday morning.

A semi-truck and two vehicles collided on southbound I-75 near the Western Hills Viaduct around 11:15 a.m.

Cincinnati Police Sgt. Eric Franz said a 44-year-old Kevin Dwayne Pearson was booked into jail for OVI on heroin. He said it’s not clear whether an overdose caused the crash.

Witness video shows Pearson and woman unconscious on the pavement outside a black Chevrolet. An officer can be seen performing chest compressions on one of the victims.

Melissa Eiler was riding in a vehicle with her family when she says her father slammed on the brakes.

"He hit the brakes really hard and luckily, we wear our seatbelt. It could have been a lot worst. Like I said a couple of more seconds and we would haven involved in the accident."

Another photo shows the pair passed out inside the vehicle before first responders arrived.

Eiler said when she approached the car a woman was sitting on the man's lap behind the wheel. Police said the male suspect crashed the car but, but the woman tried to leave the scene. Eiler said she knocked on the window to tried and get the woman's attention. 

"So, she was sitting on his lap on the driver side and she was just like passing out. The gentleman that she was sitting on top of was kind of blue," she said. 

No other injuries were reported in the collision, Franz said. 

The interstate reopened shortly before noon.

Police have seen an uptick in heroin-related crashes as the opioid epidemic plagues the Tri-State. 

[Related: Police: Fuel truck driver who OD’d behind the wheel was 'sitting on a bomb']

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