Indiana State Police vehicle struck during crash investigation
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — After 9 p.m. Thursday, an Indiana State Police vehicle was struck while police were assisting with the removal of a previous crash.
An investigation by state police revealed that the right lane was blocked for the removal of a previous crash.
A news release from the state police post in Lafayette did not say where the crash had happened.
A state police sergeant was sitting in his patrol car with the emergency lights on to warn other vehicles to slow down and move over. While doing so, he was rear-ended by a 2005 Acura TL driven by Mario Sanchez Francisco, 37, of Cicero, Illinois. Neither driver was injured in the crash.
Officers spoke with Francisco and noticed signs of impairment. Francisco failed field sobriety tests conducted by the officers.
Officers transported Francisco to a Lafayette area hospital for a certified test, which he refused. Police were granted a search warrant and obtained a certified test. Test results revealed a blood-alcohol count of 0.181. Indiana’s threshold for driving drunk is 0.08.
Francisco was arrested and taken to the Tippecanoe County Jail, where he is charged with two misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
