Press Release

Kevin Alan Swihart

NAPPANEE — More details have been released on Friday’s vehicle accident in which an Akron man left the scene after hitting an Amish buggy.

Kevin Alan Swihart, 30, 602 E. Water St., Akron, is charged with failure to stop after an accident resulting in injury, a level 3 felony; operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony; and a habitual vehicular substance offender enhancement.

At 4:23 p.m. Dec. 3, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a personal injury crash between a vehicle and a horse-drawn buggy on SR 19. Dispatch reported a truck that struck the buggy failed to stop at the scene and continued south on SR 19.

Upon arrival, the deputy saw an adult man laying on the ground with his arms wrapped around a young girl who was only semi-responsive and had obvious wounds from the crash. Nappanee EMS arrived on the scene and began administering medical treatment to the man and child.

According to court documents, a passerby who stopped to assist said she saw a black Toyota or Nissan-type truck nearly hit her in the area of SR 19 and West CR 1350N. She said the truck was all over the roadway, weaving in and out of traffic.

The operator of the buggy was identified as Wayne Hochstetler, Milford, who sustained abrasions and lacerations. He was treated at the scene. A girl in the buggy sustained significant bruising to her neck and was semi-conscious at the scene. She was airlifted from the accident and is in stable condition at a Fort Wayne hospital.

Officers found broken off pieces from a black Nissan pickup truck at the scene of the accident. An attempt to locate was placed for a heavily damaged black Nissan pickup truck, and officers were put on alert.

About 20 minutes after the accident occurred, dispatch received a call about a heavily damaged black Nissan pickup truck that was driving recklessly on SR 19. A second caller also said they saw a black truck with heavy front-end damage travel south across US 30 on CR 800W. Around 5:30 p.m., a person reported that a black pickup truck drove through their yard, hit a Nipsco marker and left the scene.

At 5:21 p.m., Fulton County Dispatch said their officers stopped a black pickup with heavy front-end damage in the area of SR 14 and CR 650E. The pickup’s driver was identified as Swihart.

Swihart told officers that when he got off work for the day, he went to a bar in Nappanee and had one beer. He said he drove home but didn’t recall hitting anything.

While speaking with Swihart, officers noticed he had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his mouth; he also had red, watery eyes and slurred speech. Swihart also failed multiple standardized field sobriety tests. A portable breath test gave a presumptive result of a .153 BrAC. Swihart was taken to a local hospital for a blood draw and was then taken to the Kosciusko County Jail.

On Dec. 4, Swihart was interviewed further by officers. Swihart said he consumed three beers and a shot of alcohol after getting off work. He told officers he remembered leaving the bar and getting in his truck but did not remember hitting anything. When showed a photo of the damage to his truck, Swihart became visibly upset and apologized for what he had done.

Swihart has a prior conviction for operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of .08% or greater, a class C misdemeanor, in Wabash County from 2012. He also has a prior conviction for operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of at least 15% with a prior conviction within five years, a Class D felony, in Fulton County from 2014.

Swihart was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Dec. 3, with a $20,250 surety and cash bond.