Rolling steel coil damages cars in I-65 mishap

• Reprints

Updated: February 10, 2012 11:40PM

MERRILLVILLE — A six-vehicle crash on I-65 snarled the end of southbound rush-hour travel but produced no injuries.

A southbound passenger vehicle on I-65 exiting off the US 30 ramp came up on backed-up traffic on the ramp, the Indiana State Police reported late Thursday night. The car swerved to the left and came back onto I-65 in the right lane, cutting off a 2000 Freightliner semi pulling a trailer loaded with a steel coil.

The semi’s driver, Dale Gipson, 70 of Lafayette, swerved and braked to avoid the car, but the coil broke free, landed in the right lane, and rolled and unraveled west into the exit lane for US 30, where it hit a 2012 Hyundai Accent driven by Matthew Sheppard, 30 of Merrillville.

The other vehicles in the coil’s path include 1996 Ford Ranger driven by Matthew Altvater, 33, of Tollesboro, Ky; a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Jesse Janson, 28 of Massillon, Ohio; a 2004 Toyota Corolla driven by Yuxi Huang, 30 of Westmont, Ill., who was behind the semi in the right lane and hit in the rear by a motorhome when he swerved to the left; and the motorhome, a 2001 Monaco driven by David Gamble, 47, of Masontown, WV.

The right and exit lanes to US 30 are still closed for removal of the unraveled coil, according to the report. Semi-driver Gipson was cited for Driving While Suspended Prior and Unsecured Load.

ISP Trooper responded to the incident and was assisted by the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Division and Indiana Department of Transportation Hoosier Helpers, the report said.