Indiana State Police report that an Illinois driver was sent to the hospital with serious injuries following a crash on US 31 Monday afternoon.
Shortly before 3:40 p.m., ISP Trooper Ben Ennis responded to a crash between a semi and passenger car in the northbound lanes of US 31 near 13th Road.
A preliminary investigation conducted by Trooper Ennis indicates that a red 2014 Freightliner tanker truck driven by 57-year-old Renee Wise, of Wakarusa, was stopped waiting for a train in the right lane of US 31 at the railroad crossing.
A black 2012 Toyota Camry driven by 40-year-old Jaime Martinez, of Summit Argo, IL, reportedly failed to stop and ran into the rear of the semi. According to the ISP news release, Martinez allegedly became distracted by some papers that fell just prior to the crash.
Martinez sustained serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries and was transported to the Plymouth Airport then flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.
As a result of the crash, both northbound lanes were blocked and did not reopen until around 5:05 p.m. Authorities report that alcohol or drugs are not suspected to be factors in this crash.
