NEWS

Car runs off I-471, strikes homeless man sleeping under bridge

Jennifer Edwards Baker
jbaker@enquirer.com
Police car

Cincinnati police say a motorist and the homeless man he struck with his vehicle are lucky to be alive after a crash on northbound Interstate 471 near the Sixth Street exit Downtown early Friday.

Robert Harvey, 23, of Verona, Ky., lost control of his gray, 2002 Lexus IS 300 about 2:50 a.m., police said.

The vehicle ran off the highway, into the grass, down a hill and into a bridge, where it struck Fred Dier, 36.

Amazingly, neither man was seriously injured, said Lt. Tim Brown, the night chief.

"It's a miracle," he said.

Dier was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center with a minor injury.

Harvey, meanwhile, managed to crawl out of his vehicle even though the "whole car just crushed into the front seat," Brown said.

He fled the scene of the accident but was apprehended walking nearby on Reading Road.

He told police he was speeding 85 mph in a 55 mph zone, a crash report shows.

But Harvey refused to take a breathalyzer test so investigators could get his blood alcohol level, police said.

He faces a charge of operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol and failure to maintain reasonable control of his motor vehicle.