WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
The case of a LaGrange County man involved a two-vehicle crash that killed two Indiana women in White Pigeon Township is moving on to a preliminary examination.
Harley Jay Bontrager, 19, appeared Tuesday with his attorney, Jessica LaFond, before District Court Judge Jeff Middleton for a pre-exam conference.
Prosecutor David Marvin said he and LaFond agreed to move the case onto a preliminary examination, set for 1 p.m. Aug. 8. In the meantime, Marvin said he is optimistic he’ll receive a copy of either the medical examiner’s report or a death certificate, or both.
It’s alleged that on June 30, Bontrager was behind the wheel of an Escalade heading west on Indian Prairie Road when it attempted to pass a Chevy Cobalt while in a no-passing zone. Authorities said Bontrager possibly misjudged his clearance from the car and his vehicle struck the Cobalt, sending it off the roadway.
Shipshewana residents Rosalie M. Yoder, 29, and Marcia Ann Miller, 27, were passengers in the Cobalt and died at the scene after the vehicle left the roadway and crashed into a tree.
Bontrager, who is free on $40,000 cash/surety bond, is charged with two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death.
