Crews dig through boxes of gardening books scattered on U.S. 23 after a semi overturned Monday afternoon.
Courtesy of Michigan State Police
A picture released Tuesday morning by state police reveals the type of thorny challenges cleanup crews faced Monday evening when a semi truck filled with gardening books overturned on southbound U.S. 23 near Brighton.
The picture shows hundreds of boxes spilled on the freeway. Police said the boxes contained a book by New Hudson-based gardening author Jerry Baker, also know as "America's Master Gardener."
The crash occurred at 2:15 p.m. and wasn't cleared until 6:30 p.m., according to Sgt. Mark Thompson of the Michigan State Police. The shipment originated in New Hudson, where Baker's business operation is based, according to his website.
Police did not know where the shipment was headed when the semi rolled over Monday. A spokeswoman for Baker said the company did not have a comment when reached by phone Wednesday morning.
Thompson said preliminary investigation indicates the semi truck was traveling westbound on Interstate 96 and entered the on-ramp to southbound U.S. 23 when the accident happened.
"(The driver) was going too fast for the ramp curve, lost control and tipped the truck over," Thompson said.
The driver was treated at a local hospital for a minor laceration to the head and released, according to police.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.