Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Trucker dies in fiery rear end accident in Toll Road backup

Back To Front Page

 

A Calumet City, Ill., trucker who failed to stop for a backup died Monday in a fiery crash on the Indiana Toll Road in LaPorte County, the Indiana State Police said.

The victim was identified as Kwame L. Lawson, 36.

According to police, at 3:16 p.m. Lawson was eastbound on the Toll Road, two miles east of the U.S. Highway 421 exit, when he drove into the rear of a second semi stopped in traffic. Lawson’s International tractor caught fire and quickly became engulfed, police said, and he was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the second semi, Orville McDougall, 38, of Riviera Beach, Fla., sustained non-life threatening injuries and was transported to Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Michigan City.

Lawson was hauling paper goods, police said, and the left eastbound lane of the Toll Road was closed for several hours after the crash for cleanup, investigation, and offloading the paper.

ISP was warning motorists to expect delays and to seek alternate routes, as ongoing roadwork seven miles east of the crash site--where two lanes are pinched to one--is causing regular congestion.

 

 

Posted 6/7/2016

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

Search This Site:

Custom Search