Three Fayette residents were among seven people injured Friday, Apr. 3 after a three-vehicle crash along Interstate 70 just inside the Columbia city limits.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the wreck occurred around 5:45 p.m. at mile marker 122.8 in the eastbound lanes of the interstate, when a 27-year-old man struck two vehicles in his pickup as he was overtaking them. The pickup went off the right side of the road and struck a rock embankment, then returned to the road.

Among the most seriously injured was a 15-year-old from Fayette, who was in an SUV that the pickup struck, and a 26-year-old man who was a passenger in the pickup. An 80-year-old woman from Columbia who was a passenger in the third vehicle also suffered serious injuries. Three other people in the SUV–the 37-year-old driver, a 14-year-old girl from Fayette and 15-year-old girl from New Franklin–sustained minor injuries, as did a 55-year-old man from Columbia. All seven were taken to a Columbia hospital.

The 27-year-old driver of the pickup had no reported injuries. Online records indicate that troopers arrested the man on suspicion of driving while intoxicated causing physical injury, and careless and imprudent driving. Formal charges are pending in Boone County. KMMO News policy is to not name the accused until such charges are filed.