Wrong-way Driver Faces Multiple Charges

A Coshocton woman is facing multiple charges after police said she was driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 while under the influence.

Emily Eppley, 24, is being charged with driving the wrong way on a divided highway, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and not wearing a safety belt. Lieutenant Matt Boyd of the Zanesville Post of the Highway Patrol said Eppley was driving in the wrong direction on westbound I -70 in Zanesville just before 2 a.m. Sunday.

“One of our troopers responded to the interstate and was able to intercept that vehicle out at exit 160, which is the airport exit east of Zanesville, he got on the interstate behind the vehicle with his lights activated and they immediately pulled over,” Boyd said.

Boyd said Eppley’s blood alcohol level was more than 2 1/2 times the legal limit. No injuries were reported in this incident, but Boyd said accidents involving wrong-way drivers are 100 times more likely to be fatal.

“Last year in Ohio, the highway patrol received more than 1,200 reports of wrong-way drivers and that’s just the patrol’s reports, so that’s 1,200 instances where if people weren’t killed, they very likely could have been killed,” Boyd said.

Eppley is expected to appear in Muskingum County Court Wednesday at 9 a.m.