The Porter County Sheriff’s Department has provided additional details about a fatal motorcycle crash Monday in Pleasant Township after an eyewitness returned to the scene and provided further information to the department’s Crash Reconstruction Team, police said.
The Porter County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as Daniel Kohler, 24, of Demotte. The cause and manner of death are pending.
Deputies were called around 3:51 p.m. on June 24 for a report of a dump truck and motorcycle crash at Indiana 8 and Baums Bridge Road, according to an updated release from Sgt. Ben McFalls, public information officer with the sheriff’s department.
An initial investigation and witness statement show the motorcycle was eastbound on
Indiana 8 and the truck was westbound on Indiana 8, with an unknown sport utility vehicle traveling in front of the truck as all of the vehicles approached the intersection with Baums Bridge Road.
The driver of the truck told police he went left of center to avoid rear-ending the
SUV. When the truck entered the eastbound lanes, it struck the motorcycle.
A witness told police the SUV was turning northbound onto Baums Bridge Road and
had signaled the turn. The witness said the truck did not appear to be slowing at the
same rate as the SUV and the truck went around the SUV as it was making the
turn, McFalls said.
