Indiana Sheriff's Officer Charged With Driving Drunk, Hit-And-Run
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A Lake County Sheriff's Department officer was charged with drunken driving and leaving the scene of a crash after his police car allegedly struck a man who was attending the Gary Air Show on Sunday.
Lt. Guy Mikulich, a 16-year veteran of the department, struck a 34-year-old Frankfort, Illinois man with his unmarked 2011 Crown Victoria police car and left the scene of the crash, according to Indiana State Police. Mikulich was working the air show, but had been released from his assigned patrol area.
At 4:48 p.m., Mikulich, 37, was driving west on Oak Avenue near Pike Street when his vehicle struck the Frankfort man who was standing behind his 2014 Toyota Sienna minivan to place something inside, police said.
The Frankfort man attended the show with his family and was legally parked on Oak Avenue, police said. He suffered serious injuries in the crash and was taken to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary.
Mikulich drove away from the crash and was later stopped by a Gary police officer in the 5900 block of Hemlock Avenue, police said. Damage to his police car was consistent with damages in the crash.
Mikulich, who was in uniform at the time of the crash, was also taken to Methodist Hospitals Northlake, where he was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent, police said.
Mikulich was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and causing bodily injury and leaving the scene of a crash involving an injured person, both felonies, according to police. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)