Semitrailer driver killed by loose horse trailer

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Updated: February 4, 2012 11:04PM

CHESTERTON — A semitrailer driver was killed early Saturday when he hit a horse trailer that had broken free from an SUV.

Julio Zatina, 50, of Bridgeview, Ill., a driver for UPS, was killed, police said.

The wreck happened about 12:23 a.m. on the Indiana Toll Road just east of Indiana 49 and the Chesterton exit, according to a news release from Indiana State Police. A 2003 Chevrolet Suburban pulling an empty 12-foot Shadow horse trailer was traveling west on the Toll Road when the trailer came loose.

The trailer went through the median and crossed into eastbound lanes, the release said.

The tractor-trailer, pulling double trailers, hit it, the release said. A piece of the loose trailer reportedly broke off and flew through the truck’s windshield, striking the driver. Zatina, and causing him to lose control of the vehicle.

The truck crossed into the westbound lanes and crashed into a ditch north of the road, the release said. Zatina suffered blunt force trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene from his injuries. The driver of the Suburban, Rick A. Bullis, 42 of Wood Dale, Ill., was not injured.

Eastbound lanes and the right westbound lane were closed for about 30 minutes after the crash, the release said. It isn’t clear whether the Suburban’s driver will be charged or cited.