Governor Eric Holcomb has declared September 24-30, 2017 as Indiana Rail Safety Week in conjunction with U.S. Rail Safety Week that will take place in all 50 states. Our goal is to increase rail safety awareness by working together on national rail safety week. Indiana State Police, Indiana Department of Transportation, local law enforcement and railroad companies have partnered together to raise awareness about the dangers of disregarding railroad crossing laws and trespassing on railroad property.

“Train versus car collisions are completely preventable,” states Jessica Feder, Executive Director, Indiana Operation Lifesaver.  “Indiana law enforcement agencies and railroad special agents will be out monitoring railroad crossings and checking for trespassers during rail safety week. We want the public to know how important it is to pay attention at railroad crossings and that trespassing on railroad tracks and property is dangerous and illegal.” 

Indiana Operation Lifesaver has scheduled numerous enforcement blitzes throughout the state involving law enforcement agencies. There will also be PSA’s throughout the state, safety information distributed at college campuses, booths at statewide festivals and events, social media campaigns, messages on the INDOT dynamic highway signs, banners on train locomotives and “See Tracks? Think Train!” signs at crossings where multiple train versus vehicle collisions have occurred. Indiana Operation Lifesaver is taking a proactive lead in the elimination of crossing collisions and trespasser fatalities.

In 2016, there were 116 railroad crossing collisions resulting in 36 people injured and 10 fatalities in the state of Indiana. Indiana is currently ranked 4th nationally for railroad crossing collisions. The Hoosier State had seven trespasser deaths last year as well as 12 injuries. 

“We are constantly striving to improve our statistics with both crossing collisions and trespasser incidents,” said Jessica Feder. “We encourage everyone to take these warning devices seriously and pay attention at all railroad crossings. It’s the law and it could save your life!”

Indiana Operation Lifesaver is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade intersections and on railroad rights-of-way through public education, engineering and enforcement.  To learn more about Indiana Operation Lifesaver, please visit us online at www.oli.org or call 812-528-4327.

A New Castle man was shot and fatally wounded by police this morning after he shot a New Castle Officer in the chest.  The events started around 4:13 a.m. when New Castle Officers responded to the area of “K” Ave. and Columbus St., just west of Main St., to a report of a man breaking into cars.

When two New Castle Officers arrived they found the suspect, Jarred Burke, age 24 of New Castle, and he refused to stop, attempting to flee on a bicycle.  A Police K-9 was released and it apprehended the suspect behind a church at 1741 Columbus St. As officers ran up to call off the dog and apprehend Burke, he pulled out a handgun and fired a shot at close range into the chest of one of the officers. The officer returned fire hitting Burke.

Medical attention was immediately summoned to the scene, with the officer and suspect both being taken to Henry Community Health Hospital, where Jarred Burke later succumbed to his injuries. The officer was treated for a non-life threatening injury, as it is believed the protective vest worn by the officer prevented a possibly fatal wound. The name of the officers involved will be released at a later time.

This release was prepared for the Henry County Major Investigations Team at the request of Henry County Prosecutor Joe Bergacs. That team, which is used to investigate major crimes in Henry County, consists of officers from the Indiana State Police, Henry County Sheriff’s Department and the New Castle Police Department.  Please refer any questions to Henry County Prosecutor Joe Bergacs.

Interstate 65 South at the 17 Mile Marker has the left lane open for traffic.

Motorists are urged to use caution when travelling through the area due to the right lane remaining closed for cleanup.

The right lane of the roadway in that area will remain closed for several hours as the cleanup from this morning’s fire continues.

Interstate #65 South at the 17 Mile Marker is closed due to a semi-tractor and trailer fire. This morning at approximately 6:40 am, The Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg received a 911 call that a semi-tractor and trailer was parked on the emergency strip at the pre-mentioned location with a trailer tire that was on fire. When troopers arrived the semi-trailer was completely engulfed in flames and a grass fire had started near the interstate.

Monroe Township and Sellersburg Fire were called to the scene to extinguish the flames. At this time Interstate #65 is closed south bound at Exit #16. All traffic is being re-routed to U.S. #31. The interstate will be closed for several hours for removal and clean up of the fire.

The semi-tractor and trailer was hauling scrap metals and no one was injured.

A search warrant issued on a Porter County man resulted in his arrest today.

A warrant was issued by the Porter County Prosecutor on Donald Furscik, 41 of Valparaiso, for violation of a protective order. 

Indiana State Police detectives went to Furscik’s residence located at 398 Greendale Drive, Valparaiso, at approximately 9:00 a.m., this Friday, September 22, 2017, morning to serve the warrant. 

A condition of the protective order was that Furscik (who is a licensed federal firearms dealer) was not allowed to possess or purchase firearms.  It was alleged that Furscik may not have been in compliance with that order.

Furscik was taken into custody without incident on a traffic stop at US 6 and McCool in Valparaiso.  A search of the above residence resulted in firearms, ammunition and blasting ordinances being discovered.  Porter County Sheriff Department’s Bomb Squad were called to the scene.  It was later found these blasting ordinances were inert.  There was no danger to the public at any time.

Furscik was taken and is incarcerated at the Porter County Jail in Valparaiso.

Assisting agencies were Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Porter County Sheriff Department, Porter County Bob Squad and Grissom USAF EOD

All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

A Henryville mother who drove her car and two children in front of a CSX train back in June was on drugs, according to the Clark County Prosecutor.

Ericka Fouch was charged this morning with two felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, two felony counts of causing a death when operating a vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance and driving with a suspended license. 

Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said in a news conference that he has evidence Foutch had taken drugs an hour before the accident and had Marijuana and Meth in her blood when she drove into the path of the train without stopping. 

Mull says if convicted of all counts, Fouch could be sentenced to up to 42 years in prison.  

Adalynn Noel Fouch, 5, and her brother, Wyatt James Isaac Fouch, 4, were pronounced dead at the scene when the SUV they were riding in was hit by a train on State Road 160 in Henryville.

Ericka Fouch, who was driving the SUV, suffered serious injuries and required surgery following the crash. 

On June 28, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office responded to a crash involving a car and a train at the intersection of County Road 160 and Railroad Street in Henryville.

The children were both in the car and emergency personnel found that both had weak pulses and were partially trapped inside the car Fouch was driving, a 2005 Mitsubishi SUV. The children were later pronounced dead before they were able to be removed from the car.

Autopsies of the children listed the causes of death as multiple blunt force trauma injuries. Adalynn also sustained a skull fracture and Wyatt a broken neck.

If you drive after using drugs and cause a collision that kills people, I’m going to come after you. And it’s not going to be to put you in treatment, or put you on probation or to put you in a program – it’s going to be to put you in prison. — Prosecutor Jeremy Mull

Mull says a blood sample drawn at the scene shows Ericka Fouch had Nordiazepam, amphetamine, meth-amphetamine and THC or marijuana in her system.

“The investigation has been ongoing since the collision occurred,” said Mull. “We had been awaiting the results of the toxicology. Upon receiving those I did file these charges because of the results they contained.”

Mull said the investigation revealed that approximately one hour before the accident Fouch did use drugs.

“I know that she had meth and THC which is a result of using marijuana in her system and that as a result of that she has violated these Indiana statutes. These penalties carry a potential 42 years of incarceration. I will say that it is very unfortunate to have to file these charges under these circumstances,” Mull said.

“With this being the mother of the children. I know the family has went through tremendous grief and Ms. Fouch has went through a tremendous amount of grief. I want to be clear – if you drive after using drugs and cause a collision that kills people, I’m going to come after you. And it’s not going to be to put you in treatment, or put you on probation or to put you in a program – it’s going to be to put you in prison. There’s just no excuse in using drugs and getting behind the wheel and causing this type of accident.”

Court documents show Fouch admitted to taking drugs an hour before the accident.

Investigators examined video from the CSX train, which shows the SUV driven by Fouch did not stop before it hit the train.  Video and audio show the train was blowing its horn, as it approached the flashing railroad intersection. 

Fouch told officers that she did not see or hear the train approaching before the collision. When asked which direction she had been traveling, Fouch told officers “I don’t know which way I was going,” court records show. She was transported to University of Louisville Hospital for injuries.

During the investigation of the crash, it was determined that the car was hit on the passenger side by the train, after which point it became airborne, rotating 180 degrees to the right and hitting the metal switch house by the train tracks on the passenger side before rotating 90 degrees and hitting a telephone pole on the driver’s side.

Video footage from the lead train car recorded that the crossing lights were flashing and the train’s horn sounding. It was recorded at traveling 44 miles per hour through the intersection, which has a speed limit of 49 miles per hour. The train was put in emergency stop mode just after the collision, records show

There are no railroad crossing arms at the intersection where the train collision happened.

Neighbors said at the time of the crash that the crossing needs more than just lights to warn drivers when a train is approaching.

A Vincennes man was arrested Friday morning on numerous drug and neglect charges after a trooper stopped to check on a vehicle left running in the roadway.

Arrested and Charged was Derrick Michael Fiscus, 28 of Vincennes, IN

– Possession of Methamphetamine, Level 6 Felony

– Illegal Possession of a Syringe, Level 6 Felony

– Maintaining a Common Nuisance, Level 6 Felony

– Neglect of a Dependent, Level 6 Felony

– Operating a Vehicle while a Habitual Traffic Violator, Level 6 Felony

– Obstruction of Traffic, Class B Misdemeanor

At 7:20 AM this morning, Senior Trooper Jarrod Lents was southbound on Main Street near 2^nd Street in Bicknell, when he encountered a green Chevrolet Camaro parked completely in the southbound lane.  Lents checked on the Chevrolet and found that it was running with its lights on, but was unoccupied. 

Lents looked over at the Short Twig Café and saw a man at the counter paying for his order.  Believing that could be the driver of the car, Lents walked into the café and spoke with 29-year-old Derrick Fiscus of Vincennes.  Fiscus informed Lents that the car was his.

While speaking to Fiscus, Lents patted Fiscus down to check him for weapons, and instead found two syringes in his pocket.  The syringes later field tested positive for methamphetamine.  Lents conducted a computer check of Fiscus’s driver’s license and found that his driving privileges were suspended for life as a Habitual Traffic Violator.

Fiscus was placed into custody without incident and was lodged in the Knox County Jail.  Fiscus’s two-year-old son was with him during the entire incident.  Lents contacted the Department of Child Services and released the child to their care.

An investigation into numerous severe injuries to a 2-month-old child ended today with the arrest of a Dubois, Indiana man.

Arrested and Charged was Trent Grider, 24, Dubois, IN

Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Bodily Injury, Level 5 Felony

– Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, Level 3 Felony

– Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury to a Person Less Than 14 Years Old, Level 3 Felony

– Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Person Less Than 14 Years Old, Level 5 Felony

On Thursday, September 21^st, an arrest warrant was issue by the Dubois County Circuit Court for Grider.  Werne and Master Trooper Brian LaRoche arrested Grider this morning at his place of employment in Saint Anthony.

On August 29, 2017, Detective Brock Werne received a complaint from Memorial Hospital in Jasper, regarding a 2-month-old child being brought in with multiple injuries. 

Medical staff informed Werne and Detective Sergeant Juli Schnell that the child had suffered a broken collarbone and arm, both on the right side, and a bruised right ear.

Werne and Schnell learned that days prior to the 29^th, the child’s father, 24-year-old Trent Grider of Dubois, Grider had pulled the child out of a car seat by the right arm.  The action was with enough force to cause the child’s right arm and collarbone to break.