Driver choking on pizza leads to I-70 backup for hours

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (AP) - A semitrailer driver choking on a piece of pizza triggered a chain of events that left Interstate 70 clogged for more than three hours in eastern Indiana, state police said Wednesday.

The driver pulled off the highway's westbound lanes about 40 miles east of Indianapolis and became stuck in mud just off the berm Tuesday afternoon, police said.

While wreckers towed the truck back onto the highway, traffic became slow and congested throughout the area, and a car driven by Misty Gonzales, 31, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, didn't notice the backup and struck the rear of an SUV driven by Bryson Nash, 23, of Gallatin, Tennessee.

During the backup from that collision, the Henry County Sheriff's Department investigated a secondary crash between a semitrailer hauling apple juice and another truck. That crash had I-70 west bound blocked for hours, police said.