2 charged in hit-and-run death of a bicyclist in Cedar Lake
By Carrie Napoleon Post-Tribune correspondent August 27, 2012 1:49PM
Maps
Updated: August 27, 2012 10:17PM
CEDAR LAKE — Two men, who are residents of the Cedar Lake Trailer Park, have been charged in connection with the early Friday morning hit-and-run death of their neighbor.
John Paul Jonas, 42, and Richard Lee Rowden, 39, who both reside in the trailer park at 9001 W. 133rd Place, have been charged for their role in the death of Robert James Lore, 54, who also lived there, according to a release from Cedar Lake Police Chief Randall Mayersky.
The men all lived in the trailer park but were not roommates, a police spokesperson said.
The three men were known to one another and had been out looking for scrap metal earlier Friday morning when they stole a flatbed trailer from a nearby location. Upon returning to the trailer park Jonas and Rowden were pulling the trailer attached to Jonas’ pickup truck around the trailer park to make some noise.
As they were driving the truck, Jonas struck Lore, who was riding a bicycle in the trailer park at the time. Both men left the scene of the crash. Police received a call concerning a body lying in the road just after 4 a.m., according to Mayersky.
Lore, who had suffered cuts and contusions all over his body, was pronounced dead on the scene from blunt force trauma injuries at 5:09 a.m. by the Lake County coroner’s office, according to a spokesman from that office.
Jonas was charged with failure to stop after an accident resulting in death and theft, both felonies, for his role in the crash. Rowden was charged with assisting a criminal and theft, both felonies.
