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MIDDLETOWN, DELAWARE (7/20/2017) A 5-vehicle crash on Route 1 east of Middletown injured three people and shut the southbound lanes for five hours Wednesday afternoon, the Delaware State Police said.
The crash happened shortly before 5 p.m. nearly 3 miles south of Route 299.
Police said a northbound red Chrysler 200 being driven recklessly cut off a Honda CRV and slowed for traffic, with the Honda swerving to the right to avoid the Chrysler and then striking the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Cobalt in the right lane.
The CRV and the Cobalt then swerved across the median into the left lane of southbound Route 1. The front bumper of the Cobalt struck the driver’s side of a Mercury Milan, causing it to spin, and the CRV struck the driver’s side of an Old Dominion Freightliner tractor-trailer, with two trailers carrying non-perishable food.
The impact caused the tractor-trailer to jackknife, police said, and the second trailer overturned.
The driver of the CRV, Daniel Murray III, 21, of Aston, was taken by ambulance to Christiana Hospital in Stanton.
The driver of the Cobalt, Michael Gonzales-Romero, 17, of Newark, was taken by ambulance to the Christiana Care Emergency Department in Middletown.
The driver of the Milan, Brittany Schatz, 30, of Bear, also was taken to the Middletown facility.
Police said all of the injuries were not life-threatening.
The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.
Police said they are still investigating the crash and asked anyone with information to call 302-365-8453.
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