LaPorte County Coroner charged with OWI after crash at Lighthouse Place in Michigan City

MICHIGAN CITY — The LaPorte County coroner is facing drunk driving charges after a single-vehicle crash over the weekend.

Lynn Swanson, 67, of Michigan City, is charged in LaPorte Superior Court 4 with two counts of operating while intoxicated.

According to court records, the most serious count is a Class A misdemeanor alleging she had a blood alcohol level above 0.15%.

The crash happened about 9 p.m. Friday outside Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets mall in Michigan City at 601 Wabash St.

According to Michigan City Police, Swanson was not injured in the incident.

Police say the front end of her 2014 Dodge Journey, however, was heavily damaged from striking the entrance sign to the mall on the city’s northwest side.

There was also considerable damage to the undercarriage of her vehicle, which traveled through some landscaping before hitting the sign hard enough to knock it slightly off its concrete base, police said.

Police said Swanson had already called for a tow truck before responding officers arrived.

Police claim Swanson told them she was heading home from Three Sheets Bar and Grill at 227 W. Barker Ave., just west of Franklin Street.

Police claimed Swanson also responded she was trying to get to nearby Michigan Boulevard “the back way” but didn’t know how the crash occurred.

When asked how much alcohol she had consumed, Swanson said “too much,” police claimed.

Police said Swanson, judging by tire markings from her car, was westbound on Fourth Street, but, instead of turning on Wabash Street, she went straight through the intersection toward the entrance to the mall.

After leaving the road, her car apparently proceeded over some landscaping before striking the sign.

Police said the front passenger side tire on her car was flat and pushed back against the wheel well from the impact.

Swanson was booked into the LaPorte County Jail with an alleged 0.164% blood alcohol level, or slightly above two times the 0.08% legal limit.

She posted $605 cash bond the next morning.

“This was a terrible mistake, and I am devastated,” Swanson said when asked for a response to the allegations.

Swanson is nearing the end of the third year of her first four-year term as coroner.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: LaPorte County Coroner charged with OWI after crash in Michigan City