An alleged drunken motorist, who police said tested at three times the legal limit, drove into a construction work zone in Lake County early Tuesday.
State police identified the driver as Aubrey A. Allee, 28, of DeMotte. She was taken to Franciscan Health Hospital in Crown Point for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
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The driver of the Indiana Department of Transportation truck was not injured.
Police said INDOT workers were doing road repairs about 3 a.m. and the roadway was reduced to one lane — the left lane.
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Trucks with impact attenuators and arrow board blocked the right two lanes and state troopers were at the location with their emergency lights activated to alert drivers.
Police said Allee’s 2017 Jeep Wrangler stuck one of the impact attenuators at a high rate of speed, narrowly missing one of the police cars.
Police said Allee made a lane change from the far-left lane to the right where the roadway was closed. She failed to yield to the arrow boards and emergency lighting and struck the impact attenuator and her vehicle spun into the center median guardrail.
A state trooper found Allee unconscious and unresponsive, but first responders revived her at the scene.
Allee told police she didn’t realize she had been involved in a severe crash.
She refused a chemical test and police obtained a warrant to take a blood sample.
Police said her alcohol level was .245%, three times the legal limit of .08%.
Once cleared by the hospital, Allee was taken to the Lake County Jail where she’s facing two felony charges — reckless driving in a work zone and operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction.
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She’s also charged with two misdemeanor counts of operating while intoxicated.
— Carole Carlson
