News Release

AUBURN — A highway maintenance worker was struck and injured in an accident along I-69 near Auburn.

At approximately 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, state troopers responded to a report of a pedestrian having been struck by a vehicle on CR 11A over I-69.

Master Trooper Ben Kirk found a highway maintenance worker laying in the roadway apparently injured and in distress. There were several motorists and several other maintenance workers on the scene providing assistance to the injured worker.

Kirk applied a tourniquet to control the bleeding until EMS personnel arrived.

Police identified the injured maintenance worker as Yancy J. Anderson, 29, Knox. Further investigation revealed that Anderson had been walking along the north edge of the CR 11A overpass for I-69, trimming weeds, and attempting to cross the roadway. In doing so, he walked into the path of an oncoming Chevrolet cargo van driven by Robert W. Kahlke, 66, Garrett. The initial collision with Kahlke’s van sent Anderson airborne into the path of a second vehicle, a westbound Dodge Ram pickup truck, driven by Brent Carver, 31, Auburn.

After being stabilized by paramedics, Anderson was transported from the scene by Parkview EMS to a local Fort Wayne area hospital in serious condition.

Kirk’s investigation did not find fault on behalf of the drivers involved. Both drivers cooperated fully with the investigation process and submitted to the mandated chemical testing procedures required by Indiana law for all drivers involved in a serious bodily injury crash..