CROWN POINT — A man accused of driving intoxicated against the flow of the Lake Station Independence Day Parade, nearly striking spectators and hitting the city’s fire chief as he attempted to stop him, has been found guilty on six counts.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard A. Carter announced Tuesday that Richard Yakel was convicted following a jury trial in Lake Superior Court.
Yakel was found guilty of criminal recklessness, a Level 6 felony; resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony; resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor; and reckless driving.
The case stems from the evening of July 3, 2025, during Lake Station’s annual Independence Day Parade.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the parade route along Central Avenue was closed to regular traffic and crowded with spectators when Yakel allegedly began driving a red Ford Expedition westbound against the flow of the parade.
Detective Bradley Rivera of the New Chicago Police Department, who was participating in the parade, reported seeing the Expedition travel toward oncoming parade traffic and come extremely close to groups of spectators, including children and adults. Several people were reportedly chasing the SUV on foot and yelling for the driver to stop.
Rivera turned his police vehicle around and pursued the Expedition with emergency lights and siren activated. According to the affidavit, Yakel continued for several blocks before slowing as he approached another large group of spectators.
Before that pursuit ended, Lake Station Fire Chief Charles Fazekas had also attempted to stop Yakel.
Fazekas told investigators he blocked the roadway with his vehicle and approached the Expedition to tell Yakel that he was driving on an active parade route. According to the affidavit, Yakel initially indicated he would stop, but then drove away.
Fazekas reported being struck by the SUV’s mirror as it left, causing him pain and discomfort.
Rivera eventually boxed the Expedition in near Central Avenue and Fayette Street. The affidavit states Yakel initially failed to comply with repeated commands to place the vehicle in park and later resisted efforts to remove him from the driver’s seat.
Detective Chance Boney of the Lake Station Police Department then took over the impaired-driving investigation.
According to court records, Yakel initially told Boney he had consumed approximately six beers. Boney reported smelling a strong odor of alcohol and observing Yakel with bloodshot, watery eyes. The affidavit alleges Yakel also told the officer, “I’m sorry man I’m just drunk.”
Investigators said Yakel displayed multiple indicators of impairment during standardized field sobriety testing. He allegedly showed six out of six clues during the horizontal gaze nystagmus test and was too unsteady to complete the walk-and-turn test without falling over. He also displayed three out of four clues during the one-leg stand.
A portable breath test administered during the investigation registered .373, according to the affidavit.
After Yakel declined an evidentiary chemical test under Indiana’s implied-consent procedure, investigators obtained a search warrant for a blood draw. Yakel was transported to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, where blood was drawn shortly after 8 p.m.
The affidavit states immediate hospital testing showed a blood-alcohol concentration of .355 at approximately 8:48 p.m. He was medically cleared and then transported to the Lake County Jail.
Investigators also interviewed a parade spectator who reported seeing the Expedition come approximately two feet from a young child who was sitting in the grass collecting candy along the parade route. The witness said the SUV later braked and swerved as a group of juveniles entered the roadway.
During a subsequent interview, Yakel acknowledged seeing pedestrians in the roadway as he drove westbound on Central Avenue, according to the affidavit.
Following the jury’s verdict, Carter commended Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Madeline Clement and Keith Anderson for their work prosecuting the case.
Carter also thanked Boney and Capt. Steven Peek of the Lake Station Police Department, Rivera of the New Chicago Police Department and Fazekas, along with the Lake Station Police and Fire departments, New Chicago Police Department, Indiana State Department of Toxicology and emergency medical personnel at St. Mary Medical Center.
Yakel is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 7, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
