Motorcyclist Killed In Indiana Highway Crash
LOWELL, Ind. (CBS) -- A man was killed early Friday in a motorcycle accident that shut down Interstate 65 in Northwest Indiana for two hours.
State Police say at least two of the three motorcyclists riding together were drunk.
Around 2:35 a.m., three motorcycles were traveling together in the southbound lanes of the expressway about 2 miles north of the Lowell, Ind., exit, Indiana State police said. Two of the motorcycles hit each other, and both of their drivers were thrown from their bikes.
The motorcycles both went off the roadway into the grass, state police said.
One of the motorcyclists, Ryan Drever, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lake County Coroner's office. He was on a blue 2005 Suzuki motorcycle, state police said.
The motorcyclist who collided with Drever, Joshua Garton, 26, of Lowell, was taken to Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Crown Point with non-life-threatening injuries after being thrown off his blue 2002 Suzuki. He will be charged for driving while intoxicated, state police said.
The third motorcyclist, Chad Cholodinski, 25, of Demotte, Ind., was able to stop his black 1998 Honda motorcycle and tried to help his friends. He too was drunk, and was being held at the Lake County Jail Friday morning, state police said.
Following the crash, all southbound lanes of I-65 were closed until about 4:35 a.m., and traffic was diverted off the expressway at the Crown Point exit.
Two other crashes shut down other parts of I-65 elsewhere in Indiana. The northbound lanes were shot down north of Lebanon due to one crash around 3 a.m. Chicago time involving two cars, and another around 3:45 a.m. involving three semi-trailer trucks.
The southbound lanes also had to be shut down, as two medical helicopters flew in to rescue injured people, CBS affiliate WISH-TV reported. The northbound lanes between the U.S. 52 and Indiana 32 exits remained closed as late as 7 a.m. Chicago time, WISH reported.
