Jasper councilman and wife escape with minor injuries in fatal accident

Stanford — When Jasper Councilman Tom Schmidt walked up to the crashed vehicle he was shocked to find two child car seats in the back.

Schmidt and his wife, Carol, had just witnessed the driver, 35-year-old Eric Lach of Bloomington, being thrown from the car after it was hit by a truck traveling behind the Schmidts. No one else was in Lach’s vehicle at the time of the crash.

“I was saddened to think these kids wouldn’t have this person in their lives over the holidays,” Schmidt said in an interview today.

Schmidt said he felt that the man had probably not survived the accident and his suspicions were confirmed when he made his way over to where the driver lay on the ground. Once there, Tom saw the extent of Lach’s injuries and decided they were too grievous for him to be able to help.

Eric Lach, 35, was later pronounced dead at Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital.

According to Indiana State Police, Lach was northbound on State Road 45 near Breeden Road at about 6:30 p.m. when his 1995 Ford sedan drove left of center striking Schmidt’s southbound GMC Sports Utility Vehicle on the front driver’s side. It rotated around Schmidt’s SUV into the southbound lane where a GMC truck following Schmidt collided with it.

The Schmidts were returning from a doctor’s appointment in Indianapolis at the time of the accident.

Schmidt and his wife were joined in their vehicle by the driver of the other GMC truck while police and first responders investigated the accident. Schmidt’s SUV was disabled from the crash and he and his wife were taken to the Bloomington Hospital by private vehicle where they were medically cleared.

Schmidt’s son, Phil, drove up to pick up his parents and arrived back in Jasper at about 12:30 p.m. this morning.