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DPS: 16-year-old girl drives wrong-way on Loop 101 in Tempe

DPS: Wrong-way crash on Loop 101 in Tempe
Posted at 10:16 AM, Sep 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-25 23:05:37-04

Officials are investigating a wrong-way crash on the Loop 101 in Tempe.

The crash happened on the Loop 101 at Guadalupe Road just after 9:00 a.m. on Monday.

Tempe Fire said there were two crashes less than a mile from each other. 

According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the wrong-way driver was a 16-year-old girl. A 37-year-old man was traveling in the correct direction when the crash happened and received minor injuries.

Several lanes of the Loop 101 were closed at Guadalupe Road but have since reopened.

Cleo Palomino was on her way to work when she noticed the van coming in her direction.

"All of a sudden I see this van coming toward us," she said. "Right there and then I'm like 'oh my God it's a wrong way driver."

Palomino told ABC15 she swerved to avoid a potential collision.

"I want to know what happened, was she drunk?" Palomino wondered. "She had to be on something, there's no way she would be in a normal state for her to do that."

Given what she witnessed Monday morning, Palomino says it's fortunate no one was killed in the crash.

"That makes you think, you leave home and you never know if you're going to be coming back," she said. "That's the scariest part."

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