LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — A driver accused of being impaired hit a trooper's vehicle in northern Indiana.
At around 6:45 a.m., troopers were on the scene of a crash on Interstate 65 at the Crown Point exit. Indiana State Police said a jackknifed semi-truck was blocking all lanes of traffic.
Troopers were helping control traffic when a Jeep swerved around one of the first responders' vehicles, which had its emergency lights on. The Jeep then swerved into the far right lane and back into the far left lane. Then the Jeep swerved back into the far right lane where it hit a trooper's fully marked car that also had its emergency lights on.
The trooper assigned to that car was standing outside it when he saw the Jeep approaching and ran into the ditch to avoid being hit. ISP said he was not injured.
The driver, Hakeem Bahhur, 30, of Orange, California, was not injured. Troopers suspected he might have been impaired and tried to administer field sobriety tests but ISP said Bahhur refused all tests.
A blood draw warrant was applied for and granted by a Lake County judge. After the blood draw was complete, Bahhur was taken to the Lake County Jail.
He is preliminarily charged with misdemeanor operating while intoxicated.
