(Updated) Jasper man arrested in drunk driving fatality
Update: Deputies released the names of the victim and the occupants of the SUV in the fatal accident near Huntingburg that occurred Friday evening. The story below has been updated with those names and additional details released by the sheriff’s department.
Huntingburg — A Jasper man was arrested early this morning after an as yet identified passenger in his vehicle died in an alcohol-related accident late Friday night.
Bryan Hakenjos, 23, of Jasper, was arrested for the fatal accident after police determined his blood alcohol content was .15 percent — nearly twice the legal limit — when the accident occurred.
The Dubois County Sheriff’s Department responded to the traffic accident on County Road 400 South about a quarter mile east County Road 550W at about 11:50 p.m. When officers arrived they found an overturned 2000 Jeep Cherokee in the water of a full creek. The passenger side of the SUV was completely submerged in the cold water.
An officer from the Huntingburg Police Department and a deputy jumped in the water to attempt to free the remaining occupant, 27-year-old Nicholas L. Ebert of Huntingburg, but their attempts were unsuccessful.
Ebert was extricated from the vehicle by the Huntingburg Fire Department and was transported to Memorial Hospital in Jasper where he was later pronounced dead.
During the investigation, deputies determined the vehicle was traveling through a 90-degree curve on County Road 400S when the driver, Bryan Hakenjos, lost control on the gravel road. The Jeep traveled off the north side of the roadway and down into a ditch full of water front end first. The vehicle came to rest facing west bound with the passenger side completely submerged in water.
The driver and the three passengers in the rear seat were able to exit the vehicle prior to deputies arriving on scene. The three rear seat passengers, 23-year-old Noah S. Fritchley of Jasper, 22-year-old Kelly J. Esser of Jasper, and 24-year-old Austin R. Green of Newburgh, were checked out by emergency medical services on scene for hypothermia.
It was determined that Hakenjos had been drinking. He was transported to Memorial Hospital for treatment of hypothermia and then released into the custody of the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies charged Hakenjos with Class B felony operating while intoxicated resulting in a fatality and booked him into the Dubois County Security Center without bond.
The Dubois County Dispatch coordinated efforts of the responding departments and first responders. The Huntingburg Police Department, Indiana State Police, Indiana Conservation Officers, the Huntingburg Fire Department, and KARS wrecker service assisted the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department with the incident.
