WARSAW — An early morning crash caused over 500 NIPSCO customers in Warsaw to lose power this morning, Dec. 7.

The accident occurred near the intersection of SR 15 and Paxton Drive. Melvin Johnson, 72, Shell Knob, Mo., was driving his Chevy pickup truck north when it went off the roadway and struck a mailbox and the utility pole. According to the accident report, Johnson was feeling ill at the time of the accident.

Damages were estimated at up to $25,000.

According to NIPSCO, the first reported outage was at 7:27 a.m. The majority of the customers had their power restored by 10 a.m.

Warsaw Schools, several traffic lights and local businesses were affected by the outage.