Man charged OWI after off-road vehicle crash leaves friend injured

A northwest Indiana man was driving an off-road vehicle while intoxicated early Sunday, causing a crash that left his friend with a serious injury, according to conservation police.

Conservation officers were called just after midnight Sunday for an ORV crash near 157^th Place and Truman Street in Lowell, according to DNR

Mark J. Runyon, 35, of Lowell, was operating a Can-Am Maverick side by side with 46-year-old John Sopovski of Lowell in the passenger seat, DNR said.

The ORV was “traveling down the roadway at a high rate of speed, Runyon lost control and it rolled over, ejecting Sopovski, who suffered a severe leg injury,” a statement from DNR said.

He was taken by ambulance to Saint Anthony’s Medical Center in Crown Point.

Runyon was charged with operating while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, a felony, according to DNR.