2nd Man Dies After Crash In NW Indiana
PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) -- A second man has died after a crash involving two cars and a semi trailer truck on Thursday on Interstate 94 in Portage, Ind.
The crash happened at about 9 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-94 just east of Indiana State Route 249.
Richard A. Hannah, 47, of Stevensville, Mich., was taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake in Gary, Ind., with massive internal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the hospital on Thursday.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Alan Jamerson said Hannah was the driver of a Nissan Altima, while a man identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Daniel Van Dyke, was a passenger in it.
Van Dyke, 44, of 2180 Ogden Ave. in Benton Harbor, Mich., was pronounced dead at 4:44 p.m. Friday at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner's office.
Preliminary investigation found a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier being driven 37-year-old Greg Hills, of Valparaiso, Ind., was westbound in the right lane when Hills lost control of the vehicle. The Cavalier came to rest facing south in the right lane, the release said.
The 2010 Altima was in the right lane and slowing as it neared the Cavalier when it was hit in the rear by a 2007 International semi truck, the release said.
After the semi hit the Altima, the impact pushed the Altima into the driver's door of the Cavalier. The Altima then went off the road into a snow embankment.
The semi went left, began to jack-knife, hit the concrete median barrier wall and bounced back. The trailer then hit the rear of the Cavalier, the release said. The semi then jack-knifed, blocking all three lanes of I-94.
Hills, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to Saint Mary's Hospital in Hobart, Ind., with a head injury and shattered sternum. The Cavalier was a total loss.
The driver of the semi was not injured. Ernest L. Johnson, 30, of Detroit was cited for speeding too fast for conditions. His semi sustained $30,000 in damages, but no load was lost.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
