A chaotic Friday evening rush hour on Cleveland’s west side turned deadly when a suspected stolen SUV plowed into multiple vehicles, setting off a chain-reaction crash that left one person dead and several others fighting serious injuries. The incident unfolded in seconds, but its consequences will ripple for far longer.
The crash happened around 5:20 p.m. at the intersection of West 150th Street and Lorain Avenue. Police say a 2017 GMC Acadia, believed to have been stolen just minutes before the wreck, was moving at well above the posted speed limit heading westbound on Lorain Avenue. What followed was the kind of sequence that accident investigators rarely want to piece back together.
According to authorities, the GMC changed lanes as it approached the Warren Road and West 150th Street intersection, striking two westbound vehicles in the process. The out-of-control SUV then left the roadway entirely and collided with a fire hydrant. One of the vehicles it had already hit got pushed into a fourth car, which then crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a fifth vehicle. Five cars. One stolen SUV. A handful of seconds…