A 45-year-old Indiana woman is facing felony charges after police say she struck and killed a man using an electric wheelchair on West Coliseum Boulevard near Goshen Road in Fort Wayne. Kandice Baker is charged with operating while intoxicated causing death and possession of methamphetamine following the crash, which happened about 10 p.m. Monday and shut down the roadway for several hours overnight.
According to WPTA via Gray News, police say an SUV traveling west on Coliseum Boulevard hit the man from behind while he was in the middle of the road. Lifesaving measures were performed at the scene, but the man died after the crash. Authorities have not released his name or age, pending notification of next of kin. Separately, 103.9 Wayne FM reported that responding officers found an unconscious male pedestrian and an SUV with front-end damage in the 3200 block of East Coliseum Boulevard near Hobson Road, which prompted the Fort Wayne Police Department's Fatal Accident Crash Team and Air Support Unit to respond and investigate the scene.
Felony Charges Carry Years of Potential Prison Time
Baker faces two felony counts tied to the crash. Under Indiana Code § 9-30-5-5, operating while intoxicated causing death is a Level 4 felony carrying a statutory penalty of two to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to McNeely Law. The methamphetamine possession charge is a separate matter: under Indiana Code § 35-48-4-6.1, possession of the drug without a valid prescription is a Level 6 felony for amounts under 5 grams, carrying a sentencing range of six months to 2.5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, per Vining Legal LLC.
The stretch of roadway where the crash occurred is no stranger to heavy traffic. Coliseum Boulevard is one of Fort Wayne's busiest urban corridors, averaging between 37,000 and 44,000 vehicles per day between Coldwater and Lima roads, according to local transportation reporting cited by The Journal Gazette.
Second Severe Pedestrian Crash on the Corridor in Weeks
This is not the first serious pedestrian collision on Coliseum Boulevard in recent weeks. Less than a month earlier, on August 14, an adult female pedestrian suffered life-threatening injuries after being struck by a Fort Wayne Community Schools bus along Coliseum Boulevard at Vance Avenue, according to the Fort Wayne Police Department, as relayed via IN.gov. The department's Fatal Accident Crash Team processed both that scene and the September 7 crash that killed the man in the wheelchair. Hoodline previously reported on a wave of pedestrian crashes that struck the same corridor in mid-August.
Allen County's Broader Traffic Safety Picture
The corridor's danger fits into a wider pattern across the county. Allen County ranks third among all 92 Indiana counties in overall severe traffic collisions, trailing only Marion and Lake counties, according to traffic safety analysis of Indiana University Public Policy Institute data cited by Sarkisian Sarkisian & Associates. Pedestrians in particular face outsized risk: an Allen County Pedestrian Safety Action Plan published on IN.gov found that between 2018 and 2020, nearly 89% of all pedestrian-involved traffic collisions in the county resulted in injury or fatality, compared to 18% for multi-vehicle crashes.
Allen County recorded 12,698 total motor vehicle collisions and 44 traffic fatalities in 2023, with Fort Wayne accounting for approximately 72% of all reported crashes countywide, per Delventhal Law Office LLC. Separately, hit-and-run collisions account for nearly 20% of all traffic crashes in Allen County, compared to a statewide average of 13%, and impaired driving accounts for 5% of crashes statewide, according to Indiana University Public Policy Institute traffic safety facts cited by Hensley Legal Group. Indiana Criminal Justice Institute statistics also show a 502% statewide surge in methamphetamine possession offenses in recent annual tracking cycles, per The Grove Estate.
The investigation into the September 7 crash remains active. Authorities have not released the identity of the man who died, and it remains unclear what led to the collision beyond the police account that the SUV struck him from behind as he traveled in the middle of the road.
