LaPorte County Man Arrested For Driving While Intoxicated, Causing Death

The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department and LaPorte County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team (FACT) have announced the arrest of a LaPorte County man for his involvement in a crash early Thursday morning that left one person dead.

LaPorte Circuit Court Judge Thomas Alevizos found probable cause to charge 29-year-old Thomas Drnek II with Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated as a Class A misdemeanor, and Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Causing Death, a Class B felony.

Drnek is still at IU Health LaPorte Hospital due to injuries sustained in the crash that occurred along U.S. 35 north of LaPorte. As the result of the crash, an occupant in the vehicle Drnek was driving had been ejected from the vehicle and was later pronounced dead at the scene – that occupant has since been identified as 26-year-old Jacob Anderson.

The crash remains under investigation by the LaPorte County FACT.