Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 Capsule Report

Lost control

Five people were hospitalized after an Ohio woman lost control of the vehicle she was driving on Indiana 26, causing them to drive off the road about 2:20 a.m. Monday.

Brianna F. Mason, 22, Sidney, was driving a 2016 Hyundai Veloster east on the highway near the intersection with Indiana 67. According to a Jay County Sheriff’s Office report, Mason was driving too fast and drove off Indiana 26 — the road curves south near the intersection — and the vehicle rolled off the east side of the road, entering a ditch and a cemetery. The vehicle continued onto Indiana 67, rolling across the highway and into a ditch on the south side of the road. 

Four passengers — 23-year-old Mercedes A. Ryan of Anderson, 20-year-old Taylor L. Lemaster of Berne, 22-year-old Araia L. Mullins of Chesterfield, and 21-year-old Steven Butts of Sidney were ejected from the vehicle. Mason was trapped inside the car.

Lemaster and Ryan were found unconscious, with Lemaster being airlifted to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne for a head injury and Ryan flown to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio for entire body injuries. Butts and Mullins were both transported to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie for a head injury and complaint of neck pain, respectively.

Mason sustained injuries all over her body and was taken to IU Health Jay. She had a 0.086% blood alcohol content level on a portable breath test. She was cited with a felony for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Damage is estimated between $10,000 and $25,000. The vehicle was towed.

Turning accident

Three people were injured after a Portland teen turned in front of oncoming traffic on Indiana 67 from Jay County High School about 7:48 a.m. Tuesday.

Sydia M. Castillo, 17, told police she was turning from the high school parking lot onto Indiana 67 in a 2005 Ford Escape. She didn’t notice a southbound 2008 Ford Edge, driven by 20-year-old Jessica L. Hernandez of Portland, before turning. Hernandez’s vehicle crashed into the car Castillo was driving, causing them both to go into a ditch on the east side of the road.

Castillo complained of pain all over her body, and Hernandez had a lower body injury. Ana Ismay Morales, 22, a passenger in Hernandez’s car, also suffered a lower body injury.

Hernandez was cited for driving without a license and without financial responsibility on her vehicle.

Damage is estimated between $10,000 and $25,000.

Grain spilled

A Portland woman lost control of her car after the tractor in front of her spilled its contents on Indiana 26 about 10:35 a.m. Friday.

Alixandra G. Bonvillian, 19, Portland, was driving her 2009 Ford Fusion west on the highway near the intersection with county road 350 East when the tractor — it was driven by Larry Hile of Hartford City — in front of her started spilling grain, according to a Jay County Sheriff’s Office report. Bonvillian told police she lost control of her car after it drove across the grain, causing her to leave the road and hit a concrete culvert.

Damage is estimated between $10,000 and $25,000. Her vehicle was towed.

Hit sign

A Texas truck driver’s vehicle hit a railroad sign and went off the county road 1250 West about 2 a.m. Sunday.

Cristian A. Romero Saavedra, 27, Bayton, Texas, was driving a 2023 Freightliner Cascadia northeast on Indiana 67 nearing the intersection with county road 1250 West. He attempted to turn onto county road 1250 West when he hit a railroad crossing sign on the south side of the road. His trailer wasn’t able to make the turn and it went into the ditch, causing part of it to get caught on railroad tracks in the road and damage the trailer and tracks. The sign was also bent in the wrong direction.

Damage is estimated between $2,500 and $5,000. The vehicle — it’s registered to Schneider National Leasing of Gary — was towed.