Pickup Truck

MISHAWAKA — Police say a man who crashed into a moving train Thursday night had been drinking beer, although they aren’t sure how much. Apparently, the 42-year-old driver wasn’t too sure either. "Too damn many," was the reply he gave, according to a police report written Thursday night, after Mishawaka police pulled him from his pickup truck. Police say Gerald Mortz had been headed north on Logan Street at 9 p.m. when he slid on the slippery road, crashed through a crossing arm and struck the front of a Norfolk Southern locomotive pulling 120 fully loaded cars that stretched for more than a mile.

Three Vicksburg residents were arraigned in 7 th District Court Monday on charges stemming from their arrests for throwing large rocks at passing vehicles. The incidents occurred on M-43 near 46 th Street. A woman was struck in the head by a large rock when it smashed through the windshield of a pickup truck she was riding in Saturday night. The woman was taken to a hospital in Bronson for treatment and later released, police said. A driver and passenger in another vehicle struck by a large rock were not injured.

DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler is recalling more than 242,000 Ram pickup trucks because of a problem in the steering system. The recall affects certain Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from the 2008 to 2011 model years. The Ram is Chrysler's best-selling vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that a part near the left wheel can fracture and cause loss of steering control, leading to crashes. The problem happens mainly at low speeds when drivers are making tight turns.

It's unknown when the pickup truck crashed into a tree on the gravel road, but a passer-by saw the wreck called 911 just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit told WSBT two teens, 17 and 18, were seriously injured in the crash. One was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend; the other was taken to a hospital via ambulance. The truck crashed on a gravel road off Lakeside Road, between U.S. 12 and Maudlin Road. Stay with WSBT for updates to this story on air and online.

One man dead. Three people injured. Four people in jail.  It's all the outcome of a fight turned deadly late Thursday night in Goshen. Daniel Heflin, 21, of Goshen is accused of murder.  His mother talked with WSBT Friday morning. Sherry Heflin said someone went to her son's home and asked him and his girlfriend, Elisa Horton, to help with a fight happening at an apartment complex in the 600 blk of River Ave. She claimed someone told her son a 17-year-old girl was being beaten by a family member.  "They came to help, that's all they did," Sherry Heflin told WSBT.  Art Vargas said he witnessed the incident from his front porch across the street.  "There were shots fired and that's when I went back in and told my wife, 'You need to get somebody out here because I thought I heard some gunshots.  This is escalating really quick,'" he recalled.

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. - Cass County's prosecutor says a band of scrap metal thieves was no match for an off-duty police officer. And now, the leader of the band will pay a heavy metal price - up to life in prison. A Circuit Court jury only took 15 minutes on Wednesday to convict Anthony Cox, 57, of Edwardsburg of the crime. Prosecutor Victor Fitz says Cox is a fourth time habitual offender, and that's why he faces such a huge prison sentence. Cox has a criminal record of several theft-related felonies.

WARREN, Mich. (AP) - Police in suburban Detroit suspect that a pickup truck driving was drag racing before a crash into a building that killed his two passengers. Lt. Dan Beck tells The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens and the Detroit Free Press that Warren police expect a warrant charging the man following Sunday's crash that killed 26-year-old Kyle Dixon of Clinton Township and 21-year-old John Bommarito of St. Clair Shores. Beck says police suspect the driver was drag racing with a second vehicle, whose driver stopped after the crash into the oil change shop.

Emergency crews were called to an accident on Capital Avenue north of Day Road, just outside Mishawaka, on Friday morning. Penn Township Fire Department officials said a car and pickup truck were northbound on Capital and somehow collided, with the truck overturning. Both drivers were taken to local hospitals for what officials said were minor injuries.

GRANGER - About a thousand customers in Granger are currently without power all because of an early morning crash. The accident happened along Adams between Elm and Cherry. Police say a pickup truck hit a utility pole and cracking it in half. Crews are currently working to replace the pole. AEP says the power will be out for at least two more hours while these repairs are made.

MISHAWAKA - Police have released the identity of a motorcyclist who was killed Tuesday afternoon when his bike skidded into a pickup truck hauling a trailer. The crash that killed 39-year-old Frederick Bazeley of Osceola happened shortly after 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of East McKinley Avenue and North Home Street. Police said a 2006 Ford pickup truck was traveling east on McKinley attempting to turn left onto Home Street when it collided with Bazeley's 1997 Harley Davidson motorcycle headed west on McKinley.