southtownstar
Welcome, |

Calumet City truck driver hits, kills worker in Indiana

Updated: August 15, 2012 7:46PM



A Calumet City truck driver struck and killed a worker Wednesday afternoon on the Indiana Toll Road near Michigan City, Ind., according to the Indiana State Police.

James B. Payton, 60, was driving in the right lane about a mile west of the Michigan City exit when he veered to the right as he looked across the interstate at the truck parking lot, police said. The semitrailer struck Chad Fleager, 34, of Lowell, Ind., as he stood on the entrance ramp next to the right lane in the westbound lanes.

Fleager, who worked for RoadSafe Traffic Systems of Crown Point, Ind., was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, after suffering massive blunt force trauma injuries. He was pronounced dead at the hospital two hours later.

The westbound right lanes were closed for about three hours for medical response, a helicopter landing, and the reconstruction and crash investigation.





© 2011 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.