Capsule Reports - Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025

Failed to notice

Damage is estimated between $10,000 and $25,000 after a Hartford City woman failed to notice a stopped semi truck along Indiana 26 and crashed into it about 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Karen L. Slater, 56, was driving her 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage west on the highway near its intersection with Indiana 1. She told police she didn’t notice that the 2022 Freightliner Cascadia driven by 44-year-old Judson D. Couser of Dunkirk, New York, in front of her was stopped. She hit the back of the semi with her vehicle.

Slater complained of chest pain, and her vehicle was towed. The semi is registered to Xtra LLC of St. Louis, Missouri.

Turning accident

A Portland man turned into the back of a Portland woman’s car along High Street about 6:18 p.m. Friday.

Jennifer E. Weitzel, 43, told police she turned her 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe from Meridian Street onto High Street heading west. As Weitzel continued down the road, 21-year-old Fermin Gonzalez driving a 2016 Dodge Durango out of a parking space along the road struck the back of Weitzel’s car.

Gonzalez was arrested for driving without a license, a Class C misdemeanor. He was being held on a $1,000 bond in Jay County Jail.

The vehicle he was driving was towed, with damage estimated between $2,500 and $5,000.