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CLAYPOOL - A Milford woman is dead after a one-vehicle accident Thursday night on CR 700S, near Claypool. Two other people were injured and the driver of the vehicle the woman was riding in was reportedly intoxicated.
Norma J. Whetten, 38, of North Main Street, Milford, suffered unspecified injuries when she was ejected from the vehicle in the 8:55 p.m. accident 1-1/2 miles west of Claypool.
Whetten was a passenger in a pickup driven by Arnold B. Pitts, 44, of 5863 S. CR 1000W, Mentone. Pitts suffered a broken neck in the accident and was transferred from Kosciusko Community Hospital to Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, where he was listed in critical but stable condition this morning.
According to an Indiana State Police report, Pitts was westbound from Ind. 15 on CR 700S when he lost control of his vehicle and went off the south side of the road. Pitts' pickup struck a vehicle parked in a private driveway before the pickup flipped over and Whetten was ejected.
A charge of driving while intoxicated and causing a death is pending against Pitts, according to the accident report. Pitts' blood-alcohol level was not noted, but a person is considered intoxicated if his blood-alcohol level is .10 percent or greater.
Also injured in the accident was Keith Hurley, 26, of West CR 400N, Warsaw, who suffered an abrasion to his hand. He was treated at KCH and released.
Police said the blacktopped roadway was wet with some ice on it at the time of the accident.
Damage to Pitts' pickup is estimated at $13,000. Damage to the parked van, for which the owner was not named, was estimated at $1,000.
Whetten's death marks the first traffic fatality of the year in Kosciusko County.
Assisting at the scene of Thursday's accident were officers with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department and Claypool and Silver Lake police departments.
