Man Held After DUI Crash That Injured Grandchildren In Indiana
PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) -- A Northwest Indiana man is in jail, his two young grandchildren are injured, after what police say was a drunken driving crash.
As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, police say Walter Everhart, 46, of Portage Ind., was drunk when he wrapped his pickup truck around a tree at Old Porter Road and Salt Creek Street in Portage, around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. His two young grandchildren, a boy and a girl, were with him.
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Everhart told police he swerved to avoid crashing into another vehicle head-on into another car that came into the eastbound lane of Old Porter Road, but couldn't provide a description of it.
Police have not said how old the children were, but said they were both young enough that they should have been in safety seats. But they were not.
In fact, the children were both in the front seat of the pickup truck and were not restrained in any way, police said.
The girl was transported from the scene by helicopter to Children's Memorial Hospital. The boy was taken to Porter hospital in Portage. Police did not disclose their injuries.
The grandson told police that Everhart was "driving real fast" to try to catch up with the car in front of them.
Everhart was arrested for numerous felony charges, including two counts each of drunken driving causing serious injury and neglect of a dependent.
Police say after he was arrested, Everhart made several threats, including, "When I get out, I'm going to be terror to this county," and "Don't be surprised if I show up to the courthouse one day with a gun."
The Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.>
