Rush-hour Borman crash leaves 1 dead; traffic crawling
By Maria Amante mamante@post-trib.com/648-3072 June 12, 2012 7:54PM
Emergency personel work at the scene of a fatal accident on 80/94 in Lake Station Tuesday afternoon. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: June 12, 2012 11:18PM
LAKE STATION — Alcohol was believed to be a factor in a crash on Interstate 80/94 on Tuesday that killed one man and left two others hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, Indiana State Police said.
Joshua Garner, 20, of Griffith, was changing lanes when he hit the rear of a moving van, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
According to investigators, the van was driven by DeAndre K. Perry, 22, of Mishawaka. Both Garner and Perry were traveling west on the Borman Expressway at 4:59 p.m. when Perry’s vehicle stalled in the middle right lane of the four-lane interstate.
An unknown semitrailer hit the driver’s side of Perry’s stalled vehicle and, shortly thereafter, Garner’s vehicle collided with Perry’s.
Garner was driving a 1998 Dodge Dakota extended-cab pickup with four passengers in the vehicle; all sustained some form of injury.
Eugene McCall, 20, of Lansing, Ill., was a rear-seat passenger, sitting behind Garner. He needed to be extracted from the truck and was airlifted to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., with life-threatening injuries.
Katherine Metzcus, 17, of Lansing, Ill., had to be extracted from the truck and sustained life-threatening injuries to her head. She was sitting in the vehicle’s rear middle seat. She and the other passengers were brought to Methodist Hospitals’ Northlake campus in Gary.
Amber Garner, 19, Joshua Garner’s sister, was the front-seat passenger. She sustained non-life-threatening injuries to her leg.
Keith Halicky was a rear-seat passenger, he sustained non-life-threatening facial injuries. Police do not say if Garner or his passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash but believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.
All lanes were closed on westbound I-80 for reconstruction of the crash, removal of the injured and vehicles, landing the Aero Med helicopter and cleanup of the road. All lanes were reopened by 7:15 p.m.
