Starke County Driver Crashes Into Concrete Drain; Charged with OVWI

The concrete drain caused severe damage to the vehicle.

A Starke County man is being charged after a single-vehicle accident on Toto Road in Knox.

At approximately 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, the Starke County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a single-vehicle accident on Toto Road west of U.S. 35. When officers arrived on scene, they found a truck had run off the road and struck a concrete drain, causing serious damage to the vehicle. Fire department personnel were on scene as well, and the driver, Fred Koman, of Knox, had to be extricated from the severely damaged vehicle before being transported to IU Health Starke Hospital and later airlifted to a South Bend hospital after suffering a broken or fractured neck with an injury to his arm.

During the course of the investigation into the accident, police learned that Koman was intoxicated, and he faces preliminary charges of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person.

The Starke County Sheriff’s Department was assisted at the scene by the Knox Fire Department, Bass Lake Fire Department, and Starke County EMS.