The Porter County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has asked a judge to revoke the bond of a South Haven area man charged with operating while intoxicated-causing death after he was stopped last month for disregarding a stop sign.

Eugene Raber, 47 was charged with OWI-causing death—a Class B felony punishable by a term of six to 20 years—as well as nine other felonies after the Porter County Sheriff’s Police said that he was driving under the influence of marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol when he crashed his motorcycle on May 3 in Porter Township, in an accident which killed his passenger, Laura Walker, 42, of Portage.

According to police, at 7:50 p.m. Raber was westbound on C.R. 350S on his 2001 Suzuki, approaching Porter/Lake County Line Road and traveling at 80 to 100 miles per hour, when he lost control of the motorcycle and hit a guard rail. Both Raber and Walker were thrown, police said, Walker died at the scene, and Raber was transported to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Crown Point and later to Loyola University Hospital in Chicago.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Bennett told the Chesterton Tribune on Wednesday that Raber was stopped on Sept. 26 by a Porter County Sheriff’s Police officer for disregarding a stop sign, after judges had told him on two occasions not to operate a vehicle.

Bennett added that he filed his motion for bond revocation on Tuesday and that Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper will now review the transcript of the bond hearing to determine whether she made license suspension a condition of Raber’s bond.

Bond was set at $5,000 surety and $5,000 cash.

Posted 10/15/2009