VALPARAISO -- Police are seeking a warrant for a man who left the scene of a head-on collision Wednesday morning in which the Jeep he was driving landed upside-down and the passenger remained trapped inside.
The Valparaiso Police Department has requested a warrant from the Porter County prosecutor's office for Thomas J. Rodriguez, address unknown, for leaving the scene of an accident, police said. According to police, Rodriguez was driving northbound in the southbound lane of Campbell Street near Ben Franklin Middle School.
At 7:12 a.m., Rodriguez's Jeep Wrangler struck a car driven by Wallace M. Woitkowski, 58, of Valparaiso, head on near the intersection of Campbell and Haas streets. The Jeep rotated counterclockwise and rolled over, landing near a driveway.
Police said Rodriguez fled the scene on foot, leaving passenger David W. Ferrell, 23, of Michigan City, in the overturned Jeep, which had a bumper sticker that said "If you can read this, turn me over."
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"They just crossed over, just drifted over in the lane. It's an unusual time of day to have a head-on collision like that, especially in that location and the residential area," said Valparaiso police spokesman Cpl. Mike Grennes.
Both Woitkowski and Ferrell suffered minor injuries. Emergency personnel from the Valparaiso Fire Department and paramedics helped pull Ferrell from the Jeep.
Police said Ferrell was intoxicated at the time of the accident and registered a 0.25 blood-alcohol concentration, more than three times the Indiana legal limit of 0.08. Ferrell allegedly told officers he had been drinking prior to the accident.
Grennes said police believe alcohol is a factor in the accident.