Wrong-Way Driver In I-84 Collision Was High: Police

SOUTHEAST, NY — A wrong-way head-on collision that snarled I-84 Wednesday morning was caused by a Pennsylvania man who was high when he drove up the exit ramp to Route 312, New York state police allege. Christopher S. Franz, 45, of Broomall, PA, faces a charge of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, an unclassified misdemeanor.

New York state police were called to eastbound I-84 at about 8:20 a.m. about a head-on collision. They found three people injured in two cars. The crash and subsequent investigation and cleanup clogged the highway for hours.

Police concluded that Franz, operating a 2017 Jeep Cherokee, drove the wrong way on the exit ramp, and struck a 2016 Toyota pickup truck containing Moises Rios Castro, 46, of Carmel, NY, and his child passenger.

All three were transported to Danbury Hospital for minor injuries.

Police also concluded that Franz was under the influence of drugs. He was subsequently arrested. Upon his release from Danbury Hospital he was arraigned before the town of Patterson Court, and sent to the Putnam County Jail in lieu of $3,000 cash bail or $6,000 bond.

Franz is next scheduled to appear before the town of Southeast Court on Jan. 14.

SEE: Wrong-Way Crash Injures Several, Clogs I-84 | UPDATE