INDIANAPOLIS – An Indiana State Trooper was struck and critically injured by a vehicle on I-65 near 30th Street in Indianapolis.
Trooper Azariah Keith stopped on the left shoulder of I-65 southbound at the 116-mile marker to help a stranded motorist change a flat tire. He finished changing the tire and the motorist was pulling away when another southbound vehicle lost control and struck Trooper Keith before colliding with the back of his police car.
On Saturday, January 20, at approximately 8:45 p.m., Trooper Keith located the disabled vehicle and stopped to help. Recognizing the vehicle was on a curve and a narrow shoulder, a second trooper responded to assist with traffic control before the curve.
The second trooper was blocking the left lane just before the curve where Trooper Keith was. Trooper Keith finished the tire change at 9:17 p.m. and was putting his equipment away in his trunk.
A 2018 Chevrolet Equinox driven by 22-year-old Armaandeep Singh of Indianapolis was approaching the scene in the left lane, believed to be at a high rate of speed, swerved around the trooper who was blocking the left lane, lost control, and crashed into the concrete median barrier, struck Trooper Keith then Trooper Keith’s police car.
Trooper Keith suffered critical injuries and was immediately tended to by the other trooper on the scene. Trooper Keith was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he is currently in stable but serious condition.
Armaandeep Singh has been arrested on the preliminary charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and causing serious bodily injury. He was transported to a local hospital and the Marion County Jail. After field sobriety testing, Singh was given a certified test for intoxication by way of blood draw, the results of that test are pending.
Indiana State Police Detectives and crash reconstruction team members responded to the scene to assist with the investigation. The southbound lanes of I-65 were closed for nearly three hours while the scene was processed.
Singh was arrested based on probable cause, and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will determine actual charges upon review of the case.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indianapolis Fire Department, Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service, and Eskenazi Hospital staff assisted the Indiana State Police.
