Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating an off-road vehicle (ORV) crash that occurred Saturday just east of Ridinger Lake in Kosciusko County. 

Kosciusko County Central Dispatch received a 911 call just after 7:40 p.m. advising of an ORV crash with injury.  It was reported that the passenger on the ORV was unresponsive and CPR was being administered by a passerby.  It was also reported that the driver fled the scene on the ORV.

Preliminary investigations indicate that a 2014 Polaris Ranger was being operated by Joel Zehner , 39, on when the crash occurred.  An adult male believed to be the passenger fell out of the ORV as it made a turn. The ORV rolled to its side pinning the male passenger.  A passerby assisted in rolling the ORV over and began CPR on the unresponsive male.  He was then airlifted to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.

The driver fled the scene on the wrecked ORV.  Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputies located the abandoned ORV three miles from the crash scene at Deniston Natural Resource Area on Old State Road 30 at the Kosciusko and Whitley County Line.  A Whitley County K9 unit tracked the driver across the property to a campsite where the driver displayed a firearm.  Around 9:15 p.m. officers on scene were able to talk the driver into putting the firearm down and he was then taken into custody.

Units assisting Indiana Conservation Officers at the scene include Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, Pierceton Police Department, North Webster Police Department, Kosciusko County Fatal Crash Team, Warsaw Medic 7, Milford Medic 1, Lutheran Air