Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WARSAW (AP) - A North Manchester driver who struck an Indiana State Trooper in January will not face charges in the fatal accident.
Teresa Cooper, 22, struck Beal on Jan. 12 while he was helping a wrecker pull a motorist out of a ditch on Indiana Highway 14. Trooper Jason Beal, 24, died three days later from massive head and internal injuries.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Chuck Waggoner said Friday his investigation has concluded Cooper didn't commit a crime. She apparently hit a patch of sleet on top of frozen rain and her car slid off the road and hit Beal, he said.
Waggoner said Cooper was not speeding and tests showed no traces of alcohol or drugs in her bloodstream.
Beal was the third officer from his police academy class to die in the line of duty within the last year.
