(Kingsbury, IN) - After crashing into a La Porte County snowbank, a wrong-way driver may have had just empty beer bottles left. 48-year-old Duane Shumaker is charged with Class A misdemeanor Operating While Intoxicated.
According to La Porte County Police, it was about 6 p.m. on Sunday when he was traveling in the opposite lanes of State Road 39 at a high rate of speed near LaPorte Municipal Airport. He turned on 400 South then veered onto U.S. 35.
Police said he was again traveling in the wrong lanes when he crossed the median of the four-lane highway and crashed into a snowbank. Fortunately, Shumaker was not seriously injured.
One reason officers became suspicious is that they spotted containers of Bud Light from an open case in the backseat of the vehicle.
The Gary man claimed he had three to four drinks about three hours before the crash, police said. However, a blood test revealed an alleged blood alcohol level close to five times the .08-percent legal limit.
