At roughly 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, troopers were called to an accident on the eastbound lanes of I-80/94 close to the 8.0-mile marker. This place is situated between Grant and Burr Streets.
According to the first accounts, a box or bucket truck was rear-ended by a passenger car. When Trooper Galvan arrived on the scene, he saw the cars and noticed that the sedan had quickly rear-ended the bucket truck. Additional investigation revealed that the vehicle, a 2024 Honda Civic, had been traveling east on the freeway when it veered off the road and struck the truck from behind for an unidentified reason. When troopers got to the scene, the driver of the Honda was still inside the vehicle and not responding.
First responders and troopers tried but were unable, to administer first aid. The Lake County Coroner eventually declared the driver dead at the scene. There were no injuries to the truck driver.
According to Trooper Galvan’s first inquiry, the box truck driver had to stop the vehicle on the right emergency shoulder due to a mechanical issue that rendered it undriveable. The driver had positioned orange cones as needed on the side of the road and behind the truck for safety. He felt the impact of the car rear-end him as he was seated in the truck’s cab.
The body has been identified as Chesterton, Indiana, resident Corey Stephen Nicholas, 36. The notification has been sent to the deceased’s family. The Lake County Coroner’s Office is making additional inquiries while an autopsy and toxicology testing are awaited. The truck’s driver was not intoxicated. The Crash Reconstruction Team of the Indiana State Police also arrived on the site to offer assistance.
