Area Accident Reports
Kosciusko County
Officers with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office investigated the following accidents:
- 10:22 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, West SR 14 east of South CR 700W, Warsaw. Driver: Wayne V. Watkins, 54, West CR 500N, Winamac. Watkins was traveling eastbound on SR 14 when his vehicle hit a deer. Damage: Up to $5,000.
- 9:31 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, North CR 300E north of East CR 525N, Leesburg. Driver: Kenneth J. Graff, 38, East Van Buren Street, Leesburg. Graff was traveling northbound when a deer ran into the roadway. He swerved to miss the deer and went off the roadway to the left into a grass field. A fence was damaged as were several fence posts. Damage: Up to $5,000.
- 7:29 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, West US 30 west of North CR 350W, Warsaw. Driver: Perry M. Schroeder, 74, Gardens Boulevard, Naples, Fla. Schroeder was traveling eastbound in the area west of North CR 350W, Warsaw, when he struck a piece of wood in the roadway. Damage: Under $750.
- 7:08 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, West Old Road 30 west of North CR 350W, Warsaw. Drivers: Stephanie D. Swain, 47, East Old Road 30, Warsaw, and Jeremy W. Doty, 48, North Lakeview Drive, Warsaw. Swain was stopped at the entrance of Westhaven Estates, facing southbound, waiting to turn eastbound onto West Old Road 30. She said she looked both ways prior to entering West Old Road 30 after multiple vehicles passed traveling eastbound. She said she looked to the east and doesn’t remember seeing any vehicles traveling westbound, so she began to enter the roadway. She saw Doty’s vehicle and slammed on her brakes, but it was too late. His vehicle hit hers. Swain had a complaint of stomach pain and arm pain and was taken to the hospital. An OWI investigation was started on Doty. Damage: Up to $25,000.
- 4:14 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, East US 30 south of South CR 450E, Warsaw. Drivers: Hannah H. Htoo, 22, Chandler Drive, Fort Wayne, and Jordan T. Ethridge, 21, East Greenhaus Drive, Syracuse. Htoo was traveling westbound on East US 30 at the intersection of South CR 450E, Warsaw. Ethridge’s vehicle was stopped in the median to cross to go north on South CR 450E. Htoo’s vehicle left the roadway to the left and hit Ethridge’s vehicle. Htoo and Ethridge both complained of pain. Damage: Up to $50,000.
Milford
Officers with the Milford Police Department investigated the following accident:
- 5:53 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, South Main Street and West Section Street, Milford. Driver: Zachery B. Heim, 21, South West Street, Milford. Heim said he had dropped his cellphone on the floor and reached down to get it. When he did, he swerved to the right and hit a parked vehicle. A deputy saw an open can of beer in the vehicle and asked if Heim had been drinking. He said he had. Later on Heim was told that charges for OWI would be forwarded to the prosecutor. Damage: Up to $25,000.
Syracuse
Officers with the Syracuse Police Department investigated the following accidents:
- 7:04 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, North Huntington Street south of East Main Street, Syracuse. Drivers: Raymond A. Sabo, 61, CR 133, Syracuse, and Jami M. Foster, 41, CR 42, Goshen. Sabo said he was traveling southbound on North Huntington Street just south of East Main Street, Syracuse. He said Foster’s vehicle was parked alongside the road with the door open. He said he slowed down to pass the vehicle but struck the driver’s side door of Foster’s vehicle with his passenger side mirror. Damage: Under $750.
- 1:42 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, 4336 E. CR 1300N west of Kern Road, Syracuse. Driver: Kristi D. Lawson, 49, South Main Street, Milford. Lawson’s vehicle left the road and struck a tree. She said she was leaving Syracuse traveling westbound into Milford and crashed. She appeared to be intoxicated. Damage: Up to $2,500.
- 5:09 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, North Huntington Street north of East Henry Street, Syracuse. Drivers: Nicole K. Beer, 17, North CR 300W, Nappanee, and Brenda S. Wilson, 67, East Farnsworth Drive, South Bend. Beer said she was traveling northbound on North Huntington Street, Syracuse. She said she had looked at a vehicle stopping on West Henry Street at the intersection of Henry Street and North Huntington Street to make sure it didn’t pull out in front of her. When she looked back, Wilson’s vehicle in front of hers had stopped. Her vehicle hit Wilson’s. Damage: Up to $5,000.
Warsaw
Officers with the Warsaw Police Department investigated the following accidents:
- 12:51 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, Jalynn Street and Walton Boulevard, Warsaw. Drivers: Heather E. Tooley, 35, East Robby Drive, Warsaw, and Robert G. Nichter, 44, Leedy Street, Warsaw. Tooley said she was exiting the Walmart parking lot, turning left from Walton Boulevard onto Jalynn Street, Warsaw. She didn’t see Nichter was turning right from the Lowe’s parking lot onto Jalynn Street, Her vehicle hit his. Damage: Up to $2,500.
- 9:35 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, US 30 east of East CR 200N, Warsaw. Drivers: George T. White, 72, North SR 19, Etna Green, and Eva M. Hanft, 28, Briar Ridge Circle, Warsaw. White said he was traveling westbound on US 30 in the right lane approaching the intersection of East CR 200N, Warsaw. He said he looked away from the road and when he looked back traffic was stopped in front of him. He couldn’t stop in time and his vehicle hit Hanft’s. Damage: Up to $10,000.
- 9:54 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, East Winona Avenue east of South Reed Street, Warsaw. Drivers: Tate E. Van Houten, 17, South Stonebridge Road, Warsaw, and Martha E. Cleto, 24, Wexford Place, Warsaw. Van Houten said she was exiting the parking lot of the Warsaw Express convenience store to turn left onto East Winona Avenue, Warsaw. She didn’t see Cleto’s vehicle traveling eastbound on East Winona Avenue. Her vehicle hit Cleto’s. Damage: Up to $10,000.
- 6:20 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, 2701 Glad Street, Warsaw. Driver: Jose A. Nunez-Sanchez, 47, Glad Street, Warsaw. Nunez-Sanchez said he was backing out of a driveway. He didn’t see a parked vehicle and hit it with his. Damage: Up to $5,000.
- 3:54 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, East US 30 west of East Center Street, Warsaw. Drivers: Hector J. Escamilla-Paredes, 32, West CR 250S, Warsaw, and Rebekah D. Stratman, 36, Lakeridge Drive, Fort Wayne. Escamilla-Paredes was traveling westbound on Lake City Highway just past the intersection of East Center Street, Warsaw. He said he was getting ready to look at a text message and didn’t see traffic stopped in front of him. His vehicle hit Stratman’s. Damage: Up to $5,000.
- 3:14 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, South Zimmer Road and West SR 25, Warsaw. Drivers: Terry W. Gardiner, 25, Post Brook Lane, Fort Wayne, and David L. Hofer, 54, West CR 1400N, North Manchester. Gardiner said he was stopped at the stop sign at the intersection of South Zimmer Road/West Winona Avenue, Warsaw. He said there was a semi attempting to turn northbound onto South Zimmer Road, so he began backing up to make room for the semi to make the turn. He didn’t see Hofer’s vehicle stopped behind him and his vehicle hit Hofer’s. Damage: Up to $5,000.
- 1:52 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, SR 15 and East Center Street, Warsaw. Driver: Timothy M. McLaughlin, 59, North Manhattan Avenue, Muncie. McLaughlin was traveling westbound on East Center Street and attempting to turn north onto SR 15. His semi-truck made a wide turn and hit the pedestrian signal on the northeast corner of the intersection. Damage: Up to $10,000.
- 3:21 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, SR 15 south of Prairie Street, Warsaw. Drivers: Isaac R. Fields, 17, East Springhill Road, Warsaw, Ethan J. Dorman, 16, East Hendricks Street, Warsaw, and Kayleigh B. Stinson, 16, North McKinley Street, Warsaw. Stinson said she was traveling northbound on SR 15 when the vehicle in front of hers suddenly stopped. She stopped and was rear-ended by Dorman’s vehicle. Dorman said he couldn’t stop in time. His vehicle was also rear-ended by Fields. Fields said he couldn’t stop in time. Fields’ vehicle hitting Dorman’s also caused Dorman’s to hit Stinson’s vehicle again. Stinson’s mother said her daughter was having chest pain. Damage: Up to $10,000.