COLUMBUS – A Michigan man who drove a truckload of syrup halfway around Columbus on I-270 at speeds nearing 70 mph with police cars in pursuit Wednesday night has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
Authorities, however, do not yet know what Barry Demings was under the influence of.
The drama started at 7:24 p.m. when a caller to the Northwest Regional Communications Center reported Demings’s truck driving erratically near the Tuttle Crossing Boulevard interchange on Northwest Side and did not end until his truck finally stopped, his tires flat, between I-70 and E. Main Street near Reynoldsburg about a half-hour, and 25 miles, later, Hilliard Police Chief Robert Fisher said.
Demings, 63, of suburban Detroit, was taken to Mt. Carmel East Hospital for medical evaluation and was charged with OVI as well as lane violations and failure to stop for a police officer, Fisher said.
Fisher said toxicology tests would be performed on a blood sample and authorities would not know what Demings was on until the results were available, which could take several days.
During the course of the pursuit, Hilliard officers were assisted by officers from Columbus and Grove City, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and the Columbus police helicopter, Fisher said.
By the time his truck was finally brought to a halt, Fisher says it was traveling at approximately 25 mph.
Demings, who is employed by a trucking company based in Waterford, Mich., had picked up his cargo of 43,000 gallons of syrup at a Coca-Cola facility on the Northeast Side and began his journey, Fisher said. He says motorists noticed him driving erratically then, but it took several more minutes before police were notified.
No one was injured and there was no damage reported, Fisher said.
-Video courtesy WBNS 10-TV