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PIERCETON - Three people were injured in a two-car accident Thursday evening on U.S. 30 near Pierceton. A Pierceton woman was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.
Sherry Marie Campbell, 47, of 6293 E. Pierceton Road, is charged with driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury and public intoxication. She is being held in Kosciusko County Jail without bond.
Campbell was treated at the scene for knee pain. Two children in the other car were also injured.
Travis Ludwig, 8, of CR 100S, Pierceton, was treated at Kosciusko Community Hospital for a serious puncture wound on his forehead and internal head injuries and released. Ashley T. Boocher, 8, North Manchester, was treated at the scene for head bruises.
Witnesses told police Campbell was driving west in the emergency lane on U.S. 30, passing other westbound vehicles at a high rate of speed. Campbell told police she was going to turn right onto CR 450E, but was traveling too fast to negotiate the turn.
Campbell's car struck the car driven by Mary M. Boocher, 29, of North Manchester. Boocher was sitting at the stop sign of the intersection as she was headed south on CR 450E when Campbell struck Boocher's car in the front left fender, spinning it around to face north. Both vehicles came to rest side-by-side facing north on CR 450E.
When a Kosciusko County Sheriff's deputy interviewed Campbell, he reported he could smell alcohol on her breath. He also noticed her speech was slurred as she slowly answered questions.
When the deputy asked if she had been drinking, Campbell allegedly told him she had been drinking before driving the car. A breath test administered at the jail reportedly revealed Campbell's blood alcohol level to be .26 percent, more than two times the legal limit for driving.
Campbell is charged with Class C felony driving while intoxicated since she has a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated within the past five years. According to police reports, her driver's license was suspended for a month beginning in April 1997 after she was arrested for driving while intoxicated per se.
Damage to each car was estimated at $2,500-$5,000.
