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Five, Including Four Children, Die in Ohio Crash

A drunk driver heading the wrong way on an Ohio interstate collided with a Chevy AstroVan, killing five passengers returning from a family Christmas celebration. Among the dead were a 6-month-old infant, a 7-year-old child and two 10-year-olds.

The driver of the Ford F-350 pickup truck, 24-year-old Michael Gagnon of Adrian, Mi., had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading of .254, over three times the legal limit in Ohio, according to WTOL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Toledo. Gagnon’s injuries were non-life threatening. He faces five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.

"It was among the worst I've seen," Lucas County Assistant Fire Chief Luis Santiago said, after looking at the fatal crash scene. Bits of gift wrap and toys could be seen in photographs of the accident’s aftermath.

Killed in the collision were Bethany Griffin, 36, Jordan Griffin, 10, and Vadi Griffin, 6 months, all of Parkville, Md., along with Lacie Burkman, 7, and Haley Burkman, 10, both of Redford, Mich., according to the Lucas County Coroner's office.

Restaurant Employee Had Alerted Police to a “Drunk Driver”

A man and two other children from the minivan were taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, Santiago said. Danny Griffin, Jr., 36, of Parkville, Md., was listed in serious condition; Sidney Griffin, 8, also of Parkville, was in critical condition; and Beu Burkman, 8, was being evaluated and no condition was available, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

According to CBSNews.com, officers received a call from an employee at a Taco Bell restaurant, who said there was a drunk driver in the restaurant’s drive-thru lane Sunday night. When police arrived, the man was gone and had merged onto Interstate 280, going north in the southbound lanes. Officers later found out Gagnon had been drinking at a bar.

Moments before the crash, another motorist had cell-phoned police about a wrong-way driver on I-280, according to the Detroit News. "A truck came at us, going the wrong way on the highway," a motorist told a Toledo-area police dispatcher before midnight.

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