Indianapolis man faces charge of driving while suspended resulting in death
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — An Indianapolis man faces criminal charges after a Thursday fatal crash on I-65, Indiana State Police say.
Melege Joseph, 49, from Indianapolis, was listed Thursday night as being in the Tippecanoe County jail on charges of driving while suspended resulting in death, and reckless driving. Online jail data says he’s being held on a $5,000 bond.
State police went to the crash of a 2006 Ford Freestyle SUV just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday on I-65 just south of the State Road 38 exit near Lafayette.
One of three passengers in the SUV died in the crash, state police say. A news release from state police did not provide the passengers’ name, age or gender.
Investigators believe the SUV was southbound in the left lane of three lanes of the intersection. The left lane ended as the three lanes merged into two, but the SUV continued on the left shoulder before crossing both southbound lanes, going off the west side of the road and rolling over.
The Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office is expected to identify the passenger who died and determine that person’s cause of death.
Joseph and the two surviving passengers were taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, state police say. Joseph was jailed after leaving the hospital.
It was not immediately known when Joseph might be formally charged in court.
