Full Notification

Delaware County – This morning shortly before 8:30 a.m., an occupied State Police Car was rear ended as it was sitting behind a crash that had occurred earlier on I-69 north bound at the 244 mile marker. Sergeant David Poynter, age 42, was sitting off the roadway, on the emergency strip berm on the median side with all emergency lights on, when a north bound car hit the rear of his car.

The north bound vehicle, driven by Zachary Patterson, age 20 of Greentown, IN., was traveling too fast for the “black ice” conditions the area was experiencing from fog that was freezing on the roadway. Patterson lost control of his 1996 Mustang and struck the rear of the semi-marked 2010 Dodge Charger at full road speed, knocking it into the median. Sergeant Poynter, a 15 year veteran of the Indiana State Police, was transported to IU Health’s Ball Memorial Hospital with back and neck pain.

Patterson was uninjured, and was cited for Speed Too Fast For Existing Road Conditions. There were numerous slide offs and crashes on I-69 in Delaware County this morning due to the "black ice" conditions.

Remember, motorists MUST change lanes away from emergency or utility vehicles if they can do it SAFELY; If not they must SLOW DOWN and proceed with caution. Please give us room to work. We are asking motorists to SLOW DOWN and/or MOVE OVER WHEN SAFE TO DO SO.

Vehicles included in the law are:
•Police vehicles
•Ambulances
•Fire trucks and rescue equipment
•Highway incident-response vehicles
•Highway work vehicles-including snow plows
•Vehicle recovery equipment (tow trucks)