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The driver of a semi-tractor trailer involved in a serious injury on U.S. 30 Thursday morning was arrested for driving while under the influence of illegal drugs Thursday afternoon.
Around 2:14 p.m. Thursday, Ronald Eugene Rodeghero, 53, of Rockdale, Ill., was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on one count of driving while intoxicated causing serious injury and one count of criminal recklessness. His bond is set at $25,000.
According to Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine, Rodeghero was arrested for allegedly being under the influence of illegal drugs, namely cocaine.
Rodeghero was eastbound on U.S. 30 in a 2000 International tractor-trailer around 7:38 a.m. Thursday when he allegedly went through a red light at the intersection of CR 200N, hitting a 2001 white Dodge Stratus driven by Ricardo Ruiz Jr., 22, of Anchorage Road, Warsaw.
Ruiz was trapped in the car after the semi hit it on the driver's side. Ruiz was extricated from the vehicle and taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital then transferred to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, where he was listed in critical condition this morning.
Rodeghero was taken to KCH where he was treated and released before being arrested.
The accident remains under investigation by the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department. The Warsaw Police Department, Warsaw Fire Department, Plain Township Fire Department, Multi-Township EMS, and the Indiana State Police assisted at the scene of the crash.
