OH Woman Heather Bates ID’d As Wrong-Way Driver In Fatal MondayOfficer Involved Crash

MUNROE FALLS, OH. (THECOUNT) — Heather Bates, of Akron, Ohio, has been identified as the wrong-way driver killed in a violent wreck involving an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper and another vehicle Monday afternoon.

According to reports, Bates, 39, was operating a vehicle traveling the wrong-way on Interstate 80 when the fatal crash occurred Monday.

Ohio State Highway Patrol says, Bates was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-80 around 1 p.m. Monday, when she crashed head-on into a cargo van. The force of the crash caused the engine of Bate’s vehicle to become dislodged before colliding with a trooper’s cruiser.

Scott Groman, 39, of Brunswick, who was operating the cargo van and Trooper Hector Burgos, were both injured during the incident. They were transported to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.

Bates was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt force trauma injuries.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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Geo quick facts: Munroe Falls is a city in the east-central portion of Summit County, Ohio, United States, between Stow and Tallmadge. It is a suburb of Akron and is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,012 at the 2010 census – Wikipedia.