Preliminary Info On 80/94 Crashes Tuesday
Tuesday morning at approximately 1:30 a.m., troopers from the Indiana State Police Lowell Post were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash on I-94 eastbound at the 15 mile-marker, according to Sgt. Glen Fifield.
Preliminary investigation by Trooper Nicholas Isajczuk revealed that a black 2015 Dodge Dart was traveling east at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended a black 2014 Toyota Camry. The Toyota was traveling in the right lane when it was rear-ended. This impact caused the Toyota to spin and come to a rest in the left lane. After the initial impact, the Dodge continued into the median wall before coming to a final rest in the right lane. Due to the severity of the crash, debris was scattered across the entire roadway. For that reason, all three lanes of I-94 required to be closed for emergency responders to treat the injured.
As this crash was being investigated, at 2:00 a.m., another crash occurred at the 14.8 mile-marker. Trooper Adrian Garcia responded and observed a semi, a 2016 Volvo truck and semi-trailer, had rear ended a FedEx truck that was pulling two semi-trailers. Preliminary investigation in that crash shows that the driver of the FedEx vehicle was slowing in the traffic backup when it was rear-ended by the Volvo truck. This impact resulted in a large amount of paint and diesel fuel to spill onto the roadway. The driver of the Volvo was trapped inside of the cab of the Volvo and had to be extricated by the Lake Station Fire Department. The driver was flown by UCAN to a trauma hospital in Illinois. The vehicles were towed by WAFFCO Towing.
As a result of the second crash, all lanes of I-94 were closed at the crash scene for 12 hours for scene cleanup. Cleanup required removing the spilled paint from the roadway surface. One lane of traffic was able to go around on the inside shoulder to avoid the affected portion of the roadway.
This is an ongoing investigation. The status of the driver’s/passenger’s conditions and their identities are being withheld pending proper notification of family.
