A Porter woman died in a rollover crash on July Fourth in Portage after the driver of the vehicle she was in swerved to avoid an oncoming car and went off the road, striking several trees, police said.
Kaelyn Kaszubski, 18, died in the wreck, according to the Porter County Coroner’s Office.
Around 1:15 p.m. that Thursday, Portage Police were dispatched to the intersection of Indiana 149 and County Road 1000 North for a rollover crash, according to a release from Capt. Rob Maynard, the department’s public information officer.
Officers located a silver Toyota Rav 4 in the ditch on the west side of the road north of the intersection. The juvenile driver of the vehicle was transported from the scene with minor injuries and he was released from the hospital a short time later. Kaszubski, the vehicle’s passenger, died at the scene.
The Portage Police Department’s crash reconstruction team responded to the scene and all lanes of Indiana 149 were closed for the investigation. The initial investigation showed that the Toyota was northbound on Indiana 149 when another vehicle tried to make a lefthand turn from westbound County Road 1000 North and entered into the path of the Toyota.
The driver of the Toyota was able to avoid striking this second vehicle but lost control and left the west side of the roadway, striking several trees and rolling onto its roof.
The adult male driver of the westbound vehicle remained at the scene, cooperated with investigators, and consented to chemical testing.
Neither drugs nor alcohol appear to be contributing factors in the crash, police said.
Indiana149 reopened to traffic at approximately 5 p.m.
The Portage Fire Department, Precision Towing and the Indiana Department of Transportation assisted at the scene.