A pair of crashes during the one o’clock hour Monday has left two county residents in serious condition in area hospitals.
First, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputies were called just after 1:30 p.m. to CR 100 North, west of CR 400 East, where a Mazda had crossed the center line and struck an oncoming Jeep. The eastbound 1990 Mazda’s driver – 28-year-old Andrew G. Peters, of 6075 East CR 150N, Pierceton – had to be pulled from the vehicle, and was air lifted to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, suffering from broken ribs and a severe injury to his lower leg, according to the sheriff’s department.
Peters was listed in serious but stable condition as of press time.
The Jeep’s driver – Melissa S. Fitzsimmons, 30, 6287 E. CR 100N, Pierceton – was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital with an ankle injury. An infant in the SUV who was buckled in a car seat was unhurt, the department said.
Police are awaiting a blood draw from Peters to come in from Parkview Hospital, the sheriff’s department said.
Five minutes after that crash was reported, deputies were called to Crystal Lake Road just east of CR 400W, where a 1995 Chevrolet pickup ran off the road, hit a utility pole and stumbled down an embankment.
According to investigators, 46-year-old Steven R. Foltz, 933 S. CR 950W, Etna Green, was eastbound on Crystal Lake Road when he inexplicably veered off the roadway and hit a guardrail. The truck then hit a power pole, snapping it in half, before barreling down an embankment off the road.
Witnesses, and later medics, found Foltz unconscious. He was transferred in serious but stable condition to KCH, where he is being treated for head injuries and minor contusions, according to the sheriff’s department.
