Lake Superior Judge Gina Jones reset a plea hearing Thursday after Stuart Roane yelled he was “sober” when he allegedly crashed into a mother and one-year-old daughter’s vehicle at 117 mph near U.S. 30.
Everyone survived. The woman was extracted from the car, later telling police she couldn’t remember what happened. The baby was ejected in her car seat.
Roane, 59, of Marion, Indiana, was expected to plead guilty to criminal recklessness, a Level 6 felony, and misdemeanor operating while intoxicated. Court documents allege he had cocaine in his system.
During routine questioning, Jones said he was “hesitating” when she asked if he agreed to take the plea deal.
Defense lawyer Kirk Marrie said he had been tied up in jail, but explained the plea agreement. Roane said he first saw it that morning.
Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Koonce said Roane’s “hesitation” was that he would have to admit guilt in court. His lawyer, Marrie, likely told him it was the best deal he was going to get, she said.
“The facts are what they are,” she said.
“The truth is I was sober,” Roane yelled in response.
Jones admonished him.
She “wasn’t talking to you,” Jones said, adding his outburst was “very rude.”
Jones later said, even before the hearing, she had reservations about accepting the plea.
“Keep that in mind,” she told Roane and the lawyers.
The hearing was reset for Sept. 12.
Roane was originally charged with causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II substance in the blood, a Level 5 felony, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangerment and reckless driving, which are both class A misdemeanors.
Police responded at 8:48 p.m. Sept. 23, 2023 to the intersection of U.S. 30 (Lincoln Highway) and Burr Street in Schererville.
The woman’s car, a blue Ford Escape, was ripped apart with the front half still in the intersection, while the back half was 50 feet into the grass. Roane’s gray Chevrolet Malibu was turned southwest in the U.S. 30 eastbound lanes, about 150 feet from the intersection.
A witness said Roane blew a red light going east on U.S. 30 at a “really high rate of speed.” He hit the woman in the intersection, the charging affidavit alleges. The man estimated Roane was going 75-80 miles per hour.
Another witness said the Malibu went by “in a flash” and the crash sounded like an “explosion.” The mother was “awake” and “crying out for her baby,” but there was “no back seat…anymore”, the witness told investigators.
Other women who were checking the scene heard a baby crying and saw the car seat flipped on its side 20 feet from the car’s rear half on the grass. The child had blood on her face, mouth and ear.
A different witness told police two cars passed him — like they were “street racing” — on the U.S. 30’s left shoulder near a Jaguar dealership, before one got into the crash.
The woman had a fractured hand, three broken ribs, lacerations and “trauma” to her right leg.
A crash reconstruction investigator estimated Roane’s Malibu was traveling at 120 miles per hour, while the airbag data showed 117 miles per hour. The woman’s car was going about 16 per hour.