Intoxicated ultralight pilot crashes

ST. JOSEPH CO. – An operator of an ultralight landed in jail after crashing in St. Joseph County and was found to be operating while intoxicated late Monday afternoon.

On Monday, December 13th, at approximately 4:40 p.m., Trooper Scott Hipsher and officers with the St. Joseph County Police Department responded to reports of a single-engine plane that had crashed in the area of Grant Road and Wild Heather Drive.

When officers arrived, they found that an ultralight that resembled a small single-engine airplane had crashed at the entrance of Heather Ridge subdivision.  The operator of the ultralight was not injured in the crash but was showing signs of alcohol impairment.

The operator of the ultralight, Joseph Krol, 61 of Mill Creek, IN, failed field sobriety at the scene of the crash.  After being medically cleared and submitting to a certified chemical test at a local hospital, Krol was arrested for operating while intoxicated- endangerment and operating while intoxicated. Krol was then transported to the St. Joseph County Jail.