A Munster police officer was killed early Tuesday morning when his truck collided with a semi on U.S. 41 near St. John.
A release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department said Officer Ryan Perez, 31, was off duty and driving his Dodge Ram pickup north on U.S. 41 around 1 a.m. when his vehicle collided with a semi in the 11400 block of Wicker Avenue.
When officers arrived, it was determined that Perez had died from his injuries, the release said.
Lake County crash investigators determined that the semi was traveling south on U.S. 41 at the time of the crash. The driver of the semi, a 41-year-old male from Schererville, was uninjured. He was taken by his employer to a local hospital for state-mandated Department of Transportation testing.
The crash is still under investigation. Officers are looking into whether several factors may have contributed to the incident.
Perez was hired by the Munster Police Department in October after previously working at the Dolton and Oak Forest police departments in Illinois.
Munster Police Department thanked the Lake County Sheriff’s Department for “their professionalism and compassion during this difficult time,” in an emailed statement.