LAPORTE COUNTY — A call to 911 from another driver and police searching for the possibly intoxicated and wrong-way driver couldn't save a LaPorte County man from driving head-on into a semi on U.S. 421 early Thursday morning.
Jeffrey Koza, 41, was driving north in the southbound lane of U.S. 421 just before 3 a.m. when he drove into the semi in front of Purdue University North Central's campus, according to LaPorte County Police Major George Ritter.
Koza's blood alcohol level measured 0.226 percent, well above the 0.08 percent legal limit for driving, police said.
Minutes before the crash, 911 received a call about a possibly drunk driver after another driver witnessed Koza's pickup strike a guardrail at Snyder Road in Otis and then drive away.
Koza, who died instantly from blunt-force trauma,was extricated from his pickup truck by the Westville Community Volunteer Fire Department.
Sullivan said Koza's wife did not know why her husband was out at hour of the morning or where he was going.
