Motorists face multiple charges after sideswipe causes semi to overturn

Indiana State Police (ISP) charged two people following a Tuesday morning crash involving a semi truck.

Charles Luis Garcia Berrios, 30, was charged with Operating While Intoxicated, Leaving the Scene of a Crash, Driving While Suspended, and False Informing. Tamia A. Baylor, 35 was charged with False Informing, according to a news release from ISP.

The charges were issued following a crash that occurred shortly before 4 a.m. on August 29 on I-80/94 eastbound near mile marker 7.7 in Lake County, Indiana.

Troopers say that a 2015 Ford Taurus sideswiped a 2001 Freightliner, causing the truck to strike and then overturn over a median wall, striking some construction equipment being operated by workers, and coming to rest on the driver’s side.

The Taurus left the roadway and came to a stop in a ditch.

No injuries were reported.

Witnesses told ISP that they saw a male flee the Taurus on foot following the crash.

Troopers arriving on the crash scene found the Taurus abandoned in the ditch.

Berrios and Baylor then arrived on the scene and Baylor told police that she had been the one driving when the crash occurred.

ISP became “suspicious” of Baylor’s statement and were investigators were later able to determine that Berrios had actually been driving the Taurus when the crash occurred.

Berrios and Baylor were arrested.