Police: Alcohol suspected

By Joe Gerrety, Journal and Courier

An 11-year-old boy was critically injured Saturday morning in a head-on crash south of Lafayette caused by a man suspected of driving drunk.

Micah Potts of Romney was airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis after suffering a head injury in the crash about 9 a.m. in the 6000 block of County Road 150 West.

John E. Dowell, 42, of rural Lafayette was driving the vehicle that struck the truck Micah was riding in. Dowell was being treated Saturday evening at St. Elizabeth Medical Center for a broken ankle and bruised heart.

Deputy Robert Morris said that when Dowell is released from the hospital he will be arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Morris said Dowell had a blood-alcohol content of 0.23 percent after the crash. The legal limit for driving in Indiana is 0.08 percent.

Dowell was driving a 1999 Ford F-250 pickup truck northbound on County Road 150 West when he went left of center and crashed head-on into a southbound
2001 Ford F-150 pickup driven by Terry L. Trader, 54, of rural Lafayette.

Morris said Dowell was not wearing a seat belt, but an airbag in his truck deployed.

Trader's 11-year-old son, Shane, was a front-seat passenger, and Shane's friend, Micah Potts, was in the truck's rear seat.

Everyone in the Trader vehicle was wearing restraints, and airbags deployed.

Terry Trader suffered a cracked rib and had some internal bleeding, according to his daughter, Nicole Trader, 29, who was not involved in the crash. Terry was treated at Home Hospital and later released.

Shane had a sore leg and hip and was treated at Home Hospital and released.

But Micah suffered a head injury and was airlifted from Home Hospital to Riley. He was in the critical care unit at Riley on Saturday evening.
Attempts to reach his parents Saturday were unsuccessful.

Shane and Micah are classmates at Southwestern Middle School.