Oct 8, 2008 10:52 pm US/Central
Woman Dead, Baby Injured In Gary Firetruck Crash
GARY, Ind. (CBS) ―
A Gary woman is dead Wednesday night, and her newborn baby is recovering in the hospital. Lakecia Rozier, 24, was driving through an intersection in Gary when a fire engine slammed into her car. Investigators are looking into whether she'd been using a cell phone at the time.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports that the accident happened near west 35th Avenue and Jefferson street. Police say this engine was headed to a fire call sometime around 4:30 p.m. Witnesses say lights and sirens were running, and other cars had stopped for the fire engine. But the driver of the car involved in the accident may have ignored all that.
"It was just like a big explosion," said Jason Johnson, witness. "You just saw a big explosion go off and the fire truck just dragged the cars back."
"That engineer was honking that horn and the sirens was on because I could hear it two blocks up," said Kissne Davis, witness.
"It was so much impact it knocked the lady's car into my wife's car," said Mike Britton, husband of crash victim. "And knocked my wife's car 15 feet."
The Indiana state police are investigating the case. They've tested the siren on the fire truck. And they'll be reviewing statements to determine whether the driver ran the light. Using a cell phone while driving without a hands-free device is against the law in Gary.
(CBS 2 and the Post-Tribune are news partners covering stories in the communities of northwest Indiana. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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