By KEVIN NEVERS

A Chesterton resident died Monday of injuries sustained when he lost control of the motorcycle he was riding and was ejected.

Ryan E. Haas, 24, of 753 Woodlawn Ave., died around 10 a.m. in the Intensive Care Unit of Porter hospital after being admitted around eight hours earlier with a closed head injury, a hospital spokesperson told the Chesterton Tribune today.

According to the initial crash report prepared by the Chesterton Police Department, at 1:40 a.m. Haas was westbound in the right lane of Indian Boundary Road on a 2004 Harley-Davidson Sportster. Although the final reconstructionist’s report has not been completed, it appears that Haas intended either to turn hard right onto northbound North Calumet Road or to negotiate the S-curve onto westbound Woodlawn but instead struck the concrete curb of the landscaped island where the two lanes of Indian Boundary split into northbound and southbound North Calumet

A witness advised police that Haas was traveling at roughly the speed limit when he struck the curb, between 30 and 35 miles per hour. Haas, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from his motorcycle and hit the base of the crossing arm of the railroad signal device located on the island, police said, while the motorcycle itself flew into the air and landed on the far side of the island on North Calumet Road just south of the CSX tracks.

Police said that Haas registered a blood alcohol content of .26 percent on a blood test subsequently administered at the hospital.

Motorists in Indiana are considered legally intoxicated when they register a B.A.C. of .08 percent or higher.

A full obituary appears elsewhere in this edition of the Tribune.