(La Porte County, IN) - A Michigan teenager is accused of being impaired when causing a deadly motor vehicle crash on New Year’s Day in La Porte County.
According to Indiana State Police, 19-year-old Jordan Morrissey was westbound in the far left lane of Interstate 94 at about 12:30 AM. Police said he was traveling at a high rate of speed in a car when he swerved into the lane beside him, sideswiping a pick-up truck about three miles west of the Michigan state line. The impact caused the truck to veer off the right side of the road and through a guardrail before coming to rest down an embankment, police said.
Sarah Cantrell, 73, of Lake Station, Indiana was a backseat passenger in the truck. Police said she was unresponsive when taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where she died from her injuries. The driver of the truck, Robert Hinkle, 47, of Hobart, along with an unidentified front seat passenger, were treated for injuries described as "life-threatening".
According to police, Morrissey had an odor of alcohol on his breath. There was also alleged evidence of recent drug use inside his 2009 Chevy Cobalt. Morrissey is charged with Level 4 Felony Operating while Intoxicated causing Death; Level 5 Felony Operating while Intoxicated causing serious bodily injury and other counts like Class B Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana and Class C misdemeanor Minor Consumption of Alcoholic Beverage.
Morrissey, who lives near Grand Rapids, is being held in the La Porte County Jail on a $20,000 bond.
