The Michigan City man who was struck and killed on Sunday night as he was trying to cross Ind. 49 on foot may have been involved in the theft of a vehicle from LaPorte, Chesterton Police said.

That vehicle was found early this morning in the parking lot of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar at 791 Indian Boundary Road.

“We’re investigating the decedent’s possible connection with a stolen car,” Det. Lt. Dave Cincoski told the Chesterton Tribune today. “Items recovered from the body of the decedent were of questionable ownership and we’re also investigating how he came into their possession.”

Cincoski said investigators are trying to determine exactly why Antonio M. Binion, 33, was trying to cross Ind. 49 in the first place, 240 feet south of the intersection of Indian Boundary Road.

According to police, at approximately 7:26 p.m. Binion was crossing Ind. 49, apparently east to west, and had reached the left southbound lane when he was struck on the right side by a 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass driven by Rachel R. Souza, 21, of Chesterton.

Souza advised police that she was traveling at around 50 miles per hour, having looked at her speedometer immediately after impact, and had seen nothing in the roadway prior to the crash.

Police said that Binion’s head struck the driver’s side windshield and that he was thrown against the traffic barrels placed in the median. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Posted 11/13/2007