Man fatally struck by semi after 3-vehicle crash on I-80/94

A man was fatally struck by a semi Wednesday evening after he was involved in a three-vehicle crash on I-80/94 in northwest Indiana.

Lonnie W. Willoughby Jr., 37, was driving a 1994 Ford Ranger pickup at 7:02 p.m. in the eastbound right lane of I-80/94 near mile marker 12.7, according to Indiana State Police and the Lake County coroner’s office. The mile marker is just east of the ramp from I-65 in Lake Station, Indiana.

When Willoughby attempted to make a lane change into the right middle lane, the Ranger hit a 2002 Ford Focus, causing that car to spin out and hit a 2012 Nissan Rogue in the left middle lane, police said in a statement. The Focus and the Rogue came to a rest on the expressway’s inner shoulder, while the Ranger went off the road onto the outer shoulder and hit a concrete barrier wall. None of the drivers were injured in the crash.

Willoughby then exited the Ranger and was hit by the trailer of a 2005 Volvo semi-tractor as he tried to run across the expressway, police said.

The semi’s driver told police he was merging from northbound I-65 onto eastbound I-80/94 when he saw several vehicles stopped on the side of the road ahead. He saw someone walking on the shoulder, drove past him, heard a noise and saw someone lying on the ground in his rearview mirror.

Willoughby, who lived in the 2600 block of Brown Street in Portage, Indiana, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.