EASTERN MECKLENBURG CO., NC -- A driver going the wrong way on I-485 crashed head-on late Monday night into two other vehicles, state troopers said.

The highway patrol shut down the outer loop of I-485 at the Albemarle Road exit near the Mint Hill town limits at about 11:15 p.m.

Troopers told Eyewitness News Glen Cronic was driving a tan SUV that hit a silver car with a mother and two 1-year-old children inside. The collision knocked a wheel off the SUV, but it kept going and smashed into a Jeep.

Three adults and two children were taken to the hospital.

James Robinson said the wrong-way driver swerved and barely missed him.

"[I] kind of looked behind us, and there were cars swerving all over, in the median, and all over the place trying to get out of the way," Robinson said.

Authorities said Cronic now faces several charges, including DWI and reckless driving. There is no word on the identities or conditions of those involved in the crash. Officials said Cronic was in fair condition Tuesday morning at Carolinas Medical Center.

The crash was the latest in a string of wrong-way crashes stretching over several years on Charlotte's beltway.

Some of those accidents were deadly.