Drunk driver hits Amish buggy, injures 1 in northern Indiana

WARSAW, Ind. (WISH) — A northern Indiana hit-and-run crash involving an Amish buggy left a child injured Friday, police said.

Around 4:30 p.m., authorities in Kosciusko County responded to the 9600 block of North State Road 19 on reports of a crash.

Witnesses said that a pickup truck struck a buggy and fled the scene.

Detectives determined that both vehicles were southbound on the roadway at the time of the crash. The buggy was struck from behind, causing “catastrophic damage to the buggy,” the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

A girl was airlifted from the scene to a local hospital where she remains in stable condition.

The driver of the buggy, Wayne Hochstetler, 45, of Milford, was treated and released at the scene.

A short time later, police received reports of a pickup truck driving erratically in southern Kosciusko County.

An officer with the Akron Police Department located the truck and arrested the driver, Kevin Swihart, 30, of Akron.

Swihart faces preliminary charges of leaving the scene and operating while intoxicated with serious bodily injury.