Police: Dog slows traffic, 3-vehicle crash closes I-70 near Cloverdale

CLOVERDALE, Ind. (WISH) – All eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 were closed in Putnam County on Saturday night after a multiple-vehicle crash, perhaps caused when a dog interrupted traffic. 

The crash occurred about 8 p.m. between county roads S 650 E and S 1000 E, about 5 miles east of the Cloverdale exit. One of the two lanes of eastbound I-70 had reopened by 10:15 p.m., but a long line of backed-up traffic remained.

Sgt. Joe Watts with the Indiana State Police said vehicles had slowed for a dog in the road. As a result a semitractor-trailer rear-ended a passenger car and then a second semitractor-trailer. 

One semi driver was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries. Two occupants in the car were taken to a hospital for minor injuries.

The crash was Saturday’s second multiple-vehicle collision on Interstate 70 in Indiana. The first on Saturday morning in Hancock County killed Joseph Stehle, 65, of Donnelsville, Ohio.