Police: One killed in crash east of Valparaiso early Thursday
Nov 29, 2024
A Chicago man driving a car the wrong way on U.S. 30 east of Valparaiso died in a head-on crash early Thanksgiving morning, police said.
Deputies with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department were called around 12:28 a.m. on Nov. 28 to the area of U.S. 30 and County Road 450 East in Washington Township for a crash, according to a release from Sgt. Ben McFalls, the department’s public information officer.
Dispatch had received a call that one of the vehicles, a 2005 Ford Focus, was traveling westbound on U.S. 30 in the eastbound lanes, police said.
An initial investigation showed that the Ford Focus collided head-on with a 2015 Toyota Rav 4 traveling eastbound. After the collision, the Focus came to a rest in the westbound lanes of U.S. 30, police said.
The car did not have any lights illuminating it and was struck by three more vehicles at separate times.
“The driver of the Focus was unfortunately pronounced deceased on-scene by medical personnel,” McFalls said in the release, adding that the other drivers sustained minor injuries.
The Porter County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Ricardo Watson, 54. The cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma and the death was ruled an accident. Toxicology results are pending.
The Porter County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating. The Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department also assisted.