Troopers with the Indiana State Police responded around 5:15 p.m. Saturday to a three-vehicle crash on northbound I-65 at the 253.6 mile-marker beneath the 73rd Avenue overpass.
The crash involved a yellow bus towing a passenger car, an SUV and a pickup truck. Authorities said the bus was a retired school bus that had been converted into a recreational vehicle.
Preliminary findings indicate the bus/RV struck a bridge support for the 73rd Avenue overpass. The impact caused fatal injuries to the driver of the bus/RV, who was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the bus/RV was airlifted by UCAN to the University of Chicago Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The SUV driver did not suffer serious injuries.
During the investigation, troopers said the pickup truck driver, identified as David K. Rodgers, 48, of Gary, showed signs of alcohol impairment. Investigators launched an operating while intoxicated inquiry. Police said Rodgers became combative and resisted officers before they took him into custody.
Authorities transported Rodgers to a local hospital, where they secured and executed a search warrant for a blood draw. Afterward, they booked him into the Lake County Jail on a probable cause hold for Operating While Intoxicated involving a fatality.
The crash remains under investigation and reconstruction, with toxicology results pending. State police ask anyone who witnessed the crash or has dash camera footage from before the collision to contact Trooper Hathaway at 219-696-6242.