More than a dozen vehicles damaged after running over debris on I-77

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than a dozen drivers were left frustrated after they said they ran over large chunks of cement on Interstate 77 in south Charlotte early Thursday morning.

Troopers later clarified that the motorists struck an axle that was in the middle of the road, not cement.

Channel 9 spoke with stranded motorists who had to pull onto the shoulder along I-77 northbound near Remount Road just after 5:30 a.m.

They said a large piece of debris was in the middle lane of the interstate and they could not avoid it.

“Somebody needs to pay for my car,” said Cortez Jones. “Somebody needs to do something about this. I’m really upset right now.”

Channel 9 counted more than 20 vehicles that were pulled onto the shoulder with their emergency lights flashing. Damage to the vehicles included flat tires, busted emissions and more.

"I ran over a block of cement,” Cortez explained to Channel 9. “I could’ve dodged it but I couldn’t because I would’ve caused a big wreck and it tore my car up.”

The driver of an Argos concrete truck was pulled over on the scene and told Channel 9 that he doesn't know what happened.

Police and state troopers were on the scene investigating.

Nobody was hurt, and although the interstate is open, traffic was slow-moving, backing up roughly 13 miles before finally clearing up around 9 a.m. when most of the vehicles were removed.

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