Driver flees from head-on crash that killed 3 people, injured 3 others in Platte County
Three people died, and three others were injured in a head-on, hit-and-run crash caused by a driver heading the wrong way on Interstate 29 in Platte County early Thursday, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Killed in the crash was the driver of the mini-van, 55-year-old Joel Similien, and two passengers, 54-year-old Sheyla Similien and 52-year-old Michelet Metellus, all of Kansas City. Three other passengers, ranging in age from 33 to 54 years old and also from Kansas City, suffered moderate to serious injuries. One passenger was not injured.
The driver headed the wrong way fled from the scene on foot after the crash and was captured over eight hours later after an overnight search involving the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Platte County and Buchanan sheriff offices, said Cpl. Justin Ewing, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Troop A.
According to a preliminary crash report by the highway patrol, the crash occurred shortly after 12:10 a.m. Thursday morning on I-29, just past Dearborn, Missouri.
Joel Similien was driving south on Interstate 29 in a 2007 Honda Odyssey mini-van with six passengers inside. Meanwhile, an unidentified driver of a 2017 Ford Edge was headed north in the southbound lanes, according to the report.
The driver of the Edge crashed head-on into the mini-van, sending it off the right side of the highway and into a concrete barrier, according to the report. The crash appears to have occurred on the bridge over Bee Creek.
The driver of the Edge then ran on foot from the crash scene, prompting a search that continued overnight into Thursday morning, Ewing said. The driver was eventually captured at about 9 a.m. and taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the crash. The extent of the person’s injuries was not immediately known.
Ewing said that once the driver has been identified and treated for injuries, the person would be booked into Platte County jail.
The crash is still being investigated, so the circumstances surrounding the crash were not available. The highway patrol will be looking into whether drugs or alcohol were involved, Ewing said.
