Accident

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — One person has died in an accident at Indiana 2 and Quince Road involving a semi-truck and a car carrying five people, Tribune staff at the scene reported Tuesday evening. An Indiana State Police officer at the Bremen post said the accident involved a semi. A Tribune photographer at the scene reported that the semi driver was not hurt but was taken to a hospital. A Tribune reporter said the front-seat passenger in a Cadillac carrying five people died instantly at the scene.

NILES, Mich. - Funeral services have been announced for two young Niles area girls killed in a tragic traffic crash. The devastating accident at Leet Road and M-60 in Cass County's Howard Township has a community heartbroken. WSBT was first on scene as this accident unfolded around 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Police say 19-year-old Sarah Michael, a babysitter, ran a stop sign at the intersection of Leet Road and M-60 in Howard Township as she was driving 3 young sisters home from school.

MISHAWAKA -- A woman was taken to the hospital Wednesday morning after a two-car accident near Home Street and McKinley Avenue. The accident happened a little before 8 a.m. A Mishawaka police dispatcher says the woman’s injuries are not life-threatening.

Marshall County Sheriff's department responded to a two-vehicle accident involving a school bus north of Plymouth. Scanner traffic initially suggested the accident on Plymouth Goshen Trail near Randolph Drive included a minor injury. However, the sheriff's department says no injuries were involved. The accident happened about 7:30 a.m. No other details were available.

NEW TROY — The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department was summoned to a fatal traffic accident Tuesday on Cleveland Avenue, north of Glendora Road. Police said the driver, a female, was killed but she wasn’t immediately identified. She was alone in the car when the auto left the road and struck a tree, according to a police report. The accident was reported about 1 p.m., police said.

BREMEN — According to the Marshall County Coroner’s office, Jared D. Smith died after becoming pinned underneath an industrial lawn mower. Police said Smith was working under the lawnmower when the jack holding it up failed, causing fatal injuries due to the weight of the mower. Marshall County police, along with Bremen police, fire and EMS, responded to a residence in Bremen shortly before 6 p.m. Monday on First Road. Smith was extricated and taken to Bremen Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. The incident is under investigation.

Three people are seriously injured following a two-vehicle crash near Allenton, Mich., Wednesday night. Cass County authorities say Ralph Katzenberger, 49, of Elkhart, was headed westbound on Michigan 205 about 8:15 p.m. when he crossed the center line near Redfield Street. His vehicle then hit one driven by Michael Routley, 59, of Vandalia. Katzenberger was critically injured, the Sheriff's Department said. Routley and his passenger, Lorrie Routley, 57, also of Vandalia, were seriously injured.

One woman is in stable condition Saturday morning after a car accident at Lincoln Highway and King Road in Plymouth, according to a nursing supervisor at Memorial Hospital in South Bend. According to a press release, the following happened around 5:15 p.m. in Marshall County: A pick up truck was heading south on King Road and drove through a stop sign and into the path of another vehicle. Both the driver and the passenger of the truck were taken via helicopter to Memorial Hospital.

A bullet fired at a muskrat in a Michigan City-area pond skipped off the water and flew right into a neighbor's home with the occupant inside.That's according to LaPorte County police, who are presenting the case to prosecutors for possible charges. It was after 5 p.m. Monday when Deputy Skyler Curtis responded to the 4800 block of N. 600 West. Brandi Morlan, 27, told him she was sitting in her living room when she heard a gun go off. She walked over to her kitchen and noticed a hole in the drywall.

GOSHEN - Police say suicide was the cause of a deadly train-pedestrian collision in Goshen that killed a New Paris man Sunday night. Goshen police say shortly before 8 p.m., officers learned about a pedestrian who was struck by a freight train on the Norfolk Southern tracks in the area of 1st Street and River Avenue. Investigators say the train was headed east about 50 miles per hour when it hit and killed 39-year-old Thomas Griffis. Police believe alcohol consumption on the part of Griffis played a role in the incident.

CALVIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A White Pigeon woman was hurt early Easter morning in what police are calling a hit-and-run accident in Cass County. Police say it was just a few minutes past midnight when 25-year-old Michelle Donovan apparently swerved to miss an animal, drove off the road and hit the garage of a house. That was on Diamond View Road just south of Brownsville in Calvin Township. Nobody was home at the time of the crash. Tom Jacobs of the Cass County Sheriff's Department tells WSBT Donovan drove 1 ½ miles from the scene where her car broke down because of the damage from the accident.

Part of the U.S. Bypass on the southside of South Bend had to be closed this morning. An accident near Ironwood forced both directions to be shut down for about an hour. We're told no one was hurt. At this point we don't know if this accident was weather related... But we did hear several reports that the Bypass was very slick because of the snow.

ELKHART COUNTY - A South Bend man was sent to the hospital after his car hit a utility pole and flipped on State Road 19 between Elkhart and Wakarusa. It happened near the County Road 32 intersection around 8:20 a.m. Monday. Police tell WSBT 31-year-old Brody Winebrenner was heading south on SR 19 when he went off the road, struck the pole and knocked down a power line. Winebrenner told police he was distracted by his cell phone ringing and while looking to see who called him, he drifted off the road and struck a ditch.

BMX star and South Bend native Brett Banasciewicz is hosting the 2nd Annual Stay Strong Pro/AM BMX Contest in South Bend this weekend. Brett is recovering from a severe head injury, and this is his first public appearance since his accident last August. Denise Bohn reports:

An employee of Homan Lumber Company in Elkhart was transferred to an Indianapolis trauma center after being struck with a piece of wood Friday morning. Company president Robert Homan tells WSBT-TV that the worker was cutting wood when he was somehow struck at about 7:30 a.m. According to an official at the Elkhart Fire Department, the worker was initially transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.  Homan supplies cut wood components and building materials to businesses.

MISHAWAKA - A local meteorologist is facing multiple charges for an incident that happened Saturday night.   Just before 8 p.m. police arrested Jamie Martin, ABC 57's chief meteorologist, for driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. St. Joseph County dispatchers confirm the vehicle Martin was driving flipped onto its roof less than a mile away from the ABC television station, which is off of Generations Drive in Mishawaka. Martin was taken to Memorial Hospital and later booked into the St. Joseph County Jail.

SOUTH BEND -- A South Bend man is recovering from a serious snowmobiling accident over the weekend. Indiana Conservation officers say 24-year-old Benjamin Higgins was riding near Brick and Olive roads Sunday when one of the skis caught a deep rut. That caused the snowmobile to flip over, tossing Higgins. He suffered a broken leg and a severed artery and is being treated at a local hospital. Conservation officers say Higgins was wearing a helmet, which helped minimize his injuries.

Services are scheduled Thursday for a 36-year-old woman killed when a tree fell on the car she was traveling in outside LaPorte. Sarah Swisher, of Kingsford Heights, died Saturday morning several hours after the freak accident. According to LaPorte County police, she suffered a severe head injury. Swisher was in the back seat of a 2005 Nissan Sentra that was northbound on Indiana 39 south of the LaPorte Municipal Airport just after 6 p.m. Friday, police said. The driver, 37-year-old Charity Mitchell, told investigators she did not remember the accident but when she came to she was pinned in the vehicle.