LAKE STATION, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Indiana State Police say a trooper is lucky to be alive after an alleged impaired driver slammed into his squad car in Lake Station early Wednesday morning.
According to Indiana State Police, troopers were investigating a single vehicle crash on I-80/94 westbound near the 12 mile-marker in Lake Station around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Trooper Riley Hieb had parked his Dodge Charger on the inside shoulder at that location with its emergency lights fully activated, and got out of his vehicle to investigate the crash scene. That is when state police said a woman driving a Chrysler 300, slammed into the police car at a high rate of speed, sending it across the lanes and into the grass.
Trooper Hieb managed to get out of the way.
Both cars were heavily damaged. The Chrysler then caught on fire, with the driver seriously injured, semi-conscious, and locked inside.
Troopers broke the passenger window and pulled the driver to safety fearing the vehicle could become fully engulfed.
The driver, Latresha C. Williamson, 42, from East Chicago, Indiana, was transported to Northlake Methodist Hospital and later transported to Southlake Methodist hospital for treatment of severe injuries.
State police said she refused a chemical test for intoxication at the hospital. As a result, a search warrant was requested and later granted by a Lake County Superior Court Judge. Alcohol and/or drugs are believed to be a factor in this crash.
Formal charges are pending review by the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office.
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