Louisville man arrested after crash on New Cut Road that killed 1 and injured 2 others

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville man is in custody charged with murder after police said he caused a crash that killed one person and injured two others on New Cut Road late Tuesday night.

LMPD spokeswoman Beth Ruoff said 3rd Division officers responded to reports of a serious injury crash at New Cut and Kenwood Roads around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The two vehicles involved in the crash were traveling in opposite directions on New Cut Road in the left lanes.

According to court documents, witnesses told officers at the scene a Lexus traveling southbound lost control and hit the center raised median. It then slid across the median and into the left lane of northbound traffic, crashing into a Kia. A female passenger in the Kia died at the scene. The woman driving the Kia and a male passenger were both taken to University of Louisville Hospital and are expected to survive. But police said the driver of the Kia has a brain bleed.

The driver of the Lexus — now identified as 45-year-old Eric Johnson — was arrested at the scene. Witnesses who tried to check on Johnson after the crash said he yelled at them not to open his door and would not get out of the car, according to the arrest slip. One witness said Johnson appeared to be hiding a cup under the car, and another witness reported seeing him hiding something in the back seat.

When questioned at the scene, Johnson said he remembered driving southbound but "doesn't know what happened" after that. According to the arrest report, the detective interviewing Johnson said his eyes were bloodshot and he "could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person."

Johnson was unable to follow directions during a field sobriety test and stopped cooperating with police. Officers at the scene said they found "a large plastic Subway cup shoved under his vehicle."

Johnson was booked into Louisville Metro Corrections on charges of murder, assault and wanton endangerment. He is due in arraignment court on Thursday.