A Valparaiso man is in custody at Porter County Jail and being held without bond after police said he fled a crash scene on foot Saturday after reportedly striking a motorcycle, seriously injuring the driver of the bike and a juvenile passenger.
Around 2 p.m. June 28, deputies with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department responded to the area of Indiana 49 and County Road 400 South in Malden for a crash with injuries involving a motorcycle and a pickup truck, according to a release from Sgt. Ben McFalls, public information officer with the sheriff’s department.
Police determined the male driver of the motorcycle and his juvenile passenger had serious injuries and both were flown out via Lutheran Air for treatment.
The driver of the pickup truck, 37, fled the scene on foot, police said. He was taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. Saturday on preliminary charges of leaving the scene of a crash/serious bodily injury while intoxicated, a Level 3 felony; operating while intoxicated/serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony; operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony; operating while intoxicated/endangering, a Class A misdemeanor; and two Class C misdemeanors, operating while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.
The Post-Tribune is withholding the man’s name until he is formally charged.
Police said an initial investigation shows a 1992 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was southbound on Indiana 49 when, for an unknown reason, a 2019 Ford F150 traveling northbound on Indiana 49 entered the motorcycle’s lane, causing the crash.