1 arrested, 2 injured in US 50 crash; electric services disrupted to 'most of Hillsboro'

One man was arrested and two women were injured Monday evening in a one-car crash that snapped an electric pole in half, stopped traffic on U.S. 50 west for several hours and knocked out power for an estimated 1,575 Hillsboro residents. 

The crash occurred just after 10 p.m. Monday. Hillsboro Fire and Rescue responded with several emergency vehicles and personnel, and upon arriving on scene - in the area of the 6000 block of U.S. 50 west - they found one vehicle off the roadway on its top. 

Two victims were extracted from the vehicles and taken to Highland District Hospital, where they were transferred to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton by CareFlight.

The two females were identified as Allison Klausing, 28, of Fairfield, and Lacey Kelley, 29, of Milford. Gregory R. Maines, 31, of Hamilton, was also in the vehicle, according to the HPD. 

According to the HPD, Maines was transported to the police station to wait for someone to pick him up. 

"Once at the police department, Maines became disorderly and began resisting the officer taking him into custody," according to the HPD. "Maines was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, at which time he was incarcerated in the Highland County Justice Center." 

The HPD said that alcohol and speed are believed to have been factors in the crash.  

A baby car seat was in the vehicle, according to witnesses at the scene, but it was not believed that a baby was in the car at the time of the crash. 

Hillsboro mayor-elect Drew Hastings was at the scene, and said that while he had not witnessed the actual crash, he had been traveling east on U.S. 50 when he was passed by three vehicles moving at a high rate of speed. 

A few minutes later, he said, he came up on the crash site, moments after it occurred. 

The incident remains under investigation by the HPD and Ohio State Highway Patrol. 

According to emergency personnel at the scene, the Ohio Department of Transportation was contacted to shut down the roadway while American Electric Power made repairs the electric pole. 

It was anticipated that the highway will be shut down for "several hours." 

Power lines were hanging low across the roadway, and emergency crews were moving underneath them to treat the victims. 

At the scene, a crew member said that as they started repairing the pole, power to "most of Hillsboro" could be shut down.

Just after the crash, according to AEP's website, 1,575 customers were without power in Highland County. According to the website, power was restored to all customers in the early morning hours.