Police: Norwell Man Drunk When He Drove Wrong Way On Highway
BOSTON (AP/CBS) — A Rhode Island man says he is grateful to be alive after his car was struck by a wrong way driver on I-95 in Massachusetts, Thursday night.
Baqir Jaffrey says he tried to get out of the way of the oncoming headlights, but the car veered toward him, swiping his car and pushing him into a guardrail.
"Thanks to God I'm alive. And, very shaky at that time," Jaffrey said.
Massachusetts State Police arrested 24-year-old Ahmed Ziad, of Norwell. They allege he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he drove the wrong way on two highways and caused an accident.
Police say Ziad, was stopped just after midnight Friday on a highway off-ramp in Wellesley.
Prosecutors say Ziad drove drunk for 10 miles in the wrong direction after leaving Patriot Place in Foxboro were he had been drinking earlier that night.
Police say they received 42 911 calls from witnesses who had to swerve out of his way. Troopers first received a report of a car driving north in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 in the Norwood-Walpole area at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.
Minutes later, a driver crashed into a guardrail trying to avoid a wrong-way vehicle.
Police later received a report of a wrong-way driver on I-93. The driver at some point corrected his direction.
Ziad had been driving on a metal rim after his tire got completely torn off. When police approached his car they say his speech was slurred and he could barely stand up.
He was released on $1000 cash bail. Outside of court, he apologized. "I made a mistake," Ziad told WBZ-TV. "I'm very sorry. That's all."
Ziad is due back in court January 26 for a pretrial hearing.
Five people died in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver on I-495 in Middleborough in October.
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