Drunk Portage Driver Missed Toddler by Two Feet at Lake Station Parade, Jury Finds

A Lake Station jury has convicted a 57-year-old Portage man on six criminal counts after he drove an SUV against the flow of the city's Independence Day parade last year with a blood alcohol content more than four times Indiana's legal limit, coming within two feet of striking a toddler collecting candy along the route.

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard A. Carter announced on August 25 that Richard Yakel was found guilty following a trial in Lake Superior Court in Crown Point, according to Lake County Prosecutor's Office. Jurors returned what the Chicago Tribune described as a split verdict, convicting Yakel on six counts while acquitting him of the most serious charge he faced.

Court records confirm Yakel was convicted of two Level 6 felonies — criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement — along with two Class A misdemeanors, one Class C misdemeanor for operating while intoxicated, and one count of reckless driving. He was acquitted of Level 5 felony battery by means of a deadly weapon, a charge tied to the moment his vehicle's mirror clipped the back of Lake Station Fire Chief Chuck Fazekas, per charging documents cited by the Tribune.

A Wrong-Way Drive Through a Holiday Crowd

The incident unfolded on July 3, 2025, around 5:30 p.m., when New Chicago Detective Bradley Rivera was cruising the parade route and spotted Yakel driving an older-model red Ford Expedition in the opposite direction of the procession, according to the charging affidavit Rivera wrote, as reported by the Tribune. Central Avenue had been blocked off while the parade was still underway, and several people reportedly tried to flag Yakel down before Rivera made a U-turn to intervene.

Per the charging documents, Yakel came within two feet of striking a toddler girl who was collecting candy in the grass along the route, and he came extremely close to hitting several other groups of people as he continued driving. According to the affidavit, Yakel did not pull over for six to nine blocks despite the attempts to stop him.

The probable cause affidavit further states that Fire Chief Fazekas blocked Central Avenue with his own vehicle and warned Yakel that he was driving on an active parade route. Yakel initially indicated he would stop before accelerating away, and later swerved as juveniles entered the roadway, per the affidavit. Fazekas, who has served 25 years with the Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association and coordinates Lake Station's emergency disaster planning, was the one whose back was clipped by Yakel's side mirror during the confrontation.

Blood Alcohol Reading Topped 0.355 Percent

After Yakel was taken into custody, Lake Station Officer C. Boney obtained a warrant for a blood draw, and Yakel failed several field sobriety tests at the jail, the Tribune reported. His blood alcohol content came back at 0.355%, more than four times Indiana's legal driving limit of 0.08%. He was evaluated and medically cleared at St. Mary Medical Center before being transferred to the Lake County Jail, according to records tied to the case.

Yakel's defense attorney, Kirk Marrie, declined to comment on the verdict, per the Tribune's reporting. Prosecutor Carter credited Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Madeline Clement and Keith Anderson with securing the convictions, while commending joint investigative work by Detective Rivera of New Chicago and Lake Station Detective Chance Boney.

What Yakel Faces at Sentencing

Yakel's sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 7 in Lake Superior Court. Under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-7, each of his two Level 6 felony convictions carries a potential sentence ranging from six months to two and a half years, with an advisory term of one year and a fine of up to $10,000 per count. His two Class A misdemeanor convictions each carry a maximum of one year of incarceration and a fine of up to $5,000, under Indiana Code § 35-50-3-2.

Had jurors convicted Yakel on the Level 5 felony battery charge he was acquitted of, he would have faced a far steeper range of one to six years in state prison with an advisory sentence of three years under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-6 — illustrating how much the acquittal on that single count narrowed his overall exposure. It remains to be seen whether the judge will order Yakel's sentences on the six remaining counts to run concurrently or consecutively.

Lake Station, a Lake County city of roughly 13,185 residents, holds its Independence Day parade along Central Avenue as one of its major annual community traditions. The case drew together investigators from both the Lake Station and New Chicago police departments, reflecting how the wrong-way drive through the holiday crowd rippled across neighboring jurisdictions before reaching a jury.