An early morning accident on Friday, May 9 along I-5 near Lodi resulted in the death of a Riverbank resident.

California Highway Patrol officers reported that the man, identified as Brett A. Cowdrey, 30, of Riverbank, was driving the wrong way on the interstate in a 1996 Plymouth when he ran into a northbound 2009 Kenworth big rig.

Cowdrey was southbound in the northbound lanes of I-5 north of Lodi and was killed in the crash, said authorities, with the accident occurring shortly before 1:45 a.m.

After Cowdrey’s car struck the big rig, driven by a Livingston man, the rig crossed the center median and entered the southbound lane, striking one vehicle and then coming to rest blocking the southbound lanes, with another car then striking the big rig. The Kenworth driver and the driver of the other two cars had minor or no injuries but the southbound lanes of I-5 were closed down for the removal of the vehicles and the accident scene investigation.