(La Porte, IN) - A man could go to prison after alleged;y disabling a medical helicopter with a rock in LaPorte.

 

An infant with severe injuries had to wait more than one hour for a back-up helicopter to arrive to be transferred to another hospital for more specialized life-saving care.

 

Duane Lowery, 44, has been charged in La Porte Circuit Court with Level 6 Felony Criminal Mischief, Class A Misdemeanor Resisting Law Enforcement and Class B Misdemeanor Public Intoxication.

 

According to court documents, the Med-flight helicopter from South Bend landed Saturday on a concrete surface outside of Franciscan Beacon Hospital at 1010 West Indiana 2.

 

The infant, with life-threatening head injuries, and the medical personnel tending to his needs were inside the helicopter about to take off.

 

According to court documents, the LaPorte man then approached on a bicycle before picking up a rock, walking to the edge of the landing zone, and tossing it at the helicopter.

 

La Porte Fire Chief Andy Snyder, whose department was called to help mark the landing zone, said the rock put a dent in one of the propellers.

 

“The blade itself pretty much turned the rock into dust,” he said.

 

Crew members hearing a “loud bang” and, feeling the aircraft shaking, aborted the flight.

 

Another helicopter arrived just slightly over one hour later to transfer the infant to the University of Chicago Hospital.

 

The mother reported her baby had suffered a head injury, which caused his skull to fracture and brain to bleed.  No explanation was provided on how the injuries resulted.

 

A firefighter ran after Lowery after the incidient, and detained him until the arrival of law enforcement officers, who spotted him beside a half-empty 24 ounce can of beer and detected alcohol on his breath.

 

Officers placed the man into a police vehicle, but not until after a profanity-laced struggle.

 

The medical helicopter remained outside the hospital for a few days until the damaged propeller was replaced with a price tag of  roughly $100,000.

 

Lowery was still being held Wednesday in the LaPorte County Jail on $755 bond.