A teacher at the
Field Station Cooperative Preschool who coached the run club at the
Discovery Charter School has died after being struck by a car as she was
jogging in Jackson Township, the Porter County Sheriff’s Office said.
The victim was
identified as Elizabeth Scott, 38, of Porter.
According to
police, at 2:07 p.m. Saturday Gabriel Davis, 18, of Chesterton, was
westbound on C.R. 1200N in a 1979 Chevrolet Corvette when, while cresting a
hill in the area of C.R. 370E, he observed Scott and another runner jogging
eastbound in the westbound lanes, facing oncoming traffic. Davis then lost
control of the Corvette and struck both of them, police said.
Scott was
transported to Porter Regional Hospital and later to Christ Advocate
Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., where she later succumbed to her injuries. The
other runner was treated at PRH for minor injuries, police said.
No citations were
issued to Davis at the scene, Cpl. Jamie Erow told the Chesterton Tribune
today, “due to the ongoing investigation by the Crash Reconstruction
Team.”
Erow did say that
alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the crash, although the
Reconstruction Team is “investigating whether speed was a factor.”
Investigators’
findings will then be forwarded to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for
review.
Dora Becker, whose
son Nate was coached by Scott at the Discovery Charter School, told the
Tribune that Scott will be profoundly missed. “It’s a huge loss to the
community,” Becker said. “And not just to the Field Station but Discovery
too. There are fourth-graders at Discovery who had her in pre-school and
she’s very well loved. She sometimes subbed at Discovery and when she walked
through the halls the kids would run up to her and hug her.”
Scott was an
excellent coach as well, Becker said. “She was super engaging, friendly,
inclusive. She knew the efforts and ability of all the kids and was really
good at pulling them along, in their own way. That always impressed me.”
“It’s just
shocking.”