(La Porte County, IN) - A man driving a box truck was chased by police in St. Joseph County prior to causing a collision Thursday afternoon involving two mini school buses transporting the New Prairie High School JV baseball team.
That’s according to La Porte County Police, who arrested Shawn Akison, 41, of Romeoville, a Chicago suburb in Illinois. Akison was booked into the La Porte County Jail and held on $15,000 bond for Level 5 felony criminal recklessness.
Police said two coaches and seven players were injured. The most seriously injured appear to be student athlete, Lucas Bradshaw, along with volunteer coach and school board member, Rich Shail. A social media post asked the community to lift up Bradshaw and his family with prayer.
Nancy Shail said her husband suffered a fractured vertebrae and broken ribs along with other injuries. Shail said the hope is the vertebrae will heal with her husband wearing a brace without having to undergo surgery because “it didn’t crack all the way through.”
Police said the St. Joseph County Police Department responded to a report of a box truck traveling westbound on Indiana 2 in a recklessness manner. A sheriff’s deputy located the vehicle in the area of Indiana 2 and Timothy Road and attempted a traffic stop but Akison failed to stop, police said.
The pursuit was soon terminated after reaching the La Porte County line, police said. Police said a La Porte County sheriff’s deputy was soon dispatched to the area of Indiana 2 and U.S. 20 regarding the reckless driving box truck. The deputy had not located the vehicle yet when the crash happened about three minutes later.
Shail said the bus occupied by her husband was stopped for a traffic light when struck in the rear by the box truck, which pushed it into the second bus.
“The coaches and kids on the bus, I mean, nobody saw this coming,” Shail said.
According to Shail and posts on social media, Bradshaw was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend and admitted into the intensive care unit.
Shail said the junior varsity baseball team was traveling to Hobart for a game when the crash happened. Police said investigators are waiting for the results of a blood test to determine if Akison was impaired.
