Columbia City Man Arrested After Fatal Vehicle Accident
Staff Report
WARSAW — A Columbia City man was recently arrested for his involvement in a fatal vehicle accident.
Shawn Dion Hale, 22, 967 E. Gatesworth Drive, Columbia City, is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a level 3 felony; causing death while operating a vehicle, a level 4 felony; reckless homicide, a level 5 felony; driving while suspended and false informing, both class A misdemeanors; and possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor.
On July 17, a Warsaw Police officer responded to a vehicle accident involving injury on Clark Street, near the intersection of Park Avenue. Upon arrival, the officer saw Hale tending to an injured person in the roadway. The person was identified as Kenyan C. Bennett, 24, Warsaw.
According to court documents, Hale said he found Bennett, his friend, bleeding in the roadway while he was driving to his house. Bennett sustained a serious head injury and was flown to a Fort Wayne hospital. After saying he found Bennett lying in the roadway, Hale left the scene in a Chevrolet Cruze.
As the investigation continued, the Warsaw officer was provided surveillance footage from a Clark Street residence. In the footage, a vehicle is shown speeding east on Clark Street with Bennett skidding to a stop behind the vehicle. After seeing Bennett skid on the road, the vehicle stopped and backed up to Bennett before its driver exited the vehicle and checked on Bennett.
In an interview with law enforcement, Hale said a woman had been driving the vehicle and that he did not know what happened to Bennett. Upon being confronted with evidence, Hale admitted he was driving the woman’s Chevrolet Cruze and went to Bennett’s home to pick him up. The Cruze’s passenger compartment was full, and Hale allegedly told Bennett to get on the back of the vehicle, which he did.
Hale said he didn’t realize Bennett had fallen off the vehicle right away. He also admitted to smoking marijuana on the way to Warsaw and also told the people in the vehicle to lie about what happened.
Two women who were in the Chevy Cruze at the time said Hale was driving when Bennett sat on the Cruze’s trunk and fell off. One of the women said the Chevy Cruze belonged to her and gave officers permission to search the vehicle. She said she smoked marijuana with Hale and that Hale had marijuana in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Officers searched the vehicle on July 18 and found several vape pens and a container of marijuana.
At 12:50 a.m. July 25, Bennett passed away from the injuries he sustained in the accident.
On Aug. 18, an Indiana State Department of Toxicology report on Hale’s blood showed that Hale had a schedule I controlled substance metabolite in his body at the time of the accident.
Hale was previously convicted of driving while suspended in August 2021. At the time of this incident, Hale had a driver’s status of suspended prior with an indefinite reinstatement date.
For this case, Hale was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Oct. 15, with a $25,500 surety and cash bond.