Man killed in I-80/94 crash in Hammond

A man was killed in a crash late Sunday on the Indiana Toll Road in Hammond, Indiana.

Troopers were called just before 11:30 p.m. for the single-vehicle crash on the ramp from westbound I-80/94 to southbound Cline Avenue, according to Indiana State Police.

A 2004 Ford Taurus was on the exit ramp when it left the road just before the curve and hit a concrete barrier wall on its right side, according to state police. It continued scraping along the wall until it slammed into a bridge support pillar head-on.

Two nearby motorists and a Griffith, Indiana, police officer tried to help the driver, but he was pinned inside the wreck because of “extensive front end damage,” state police said. Hammond firefighters and paramedics used Jaws of Life to free him from the vehicle, but he was dead at the scene.

Police said the driver was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and that alcohol may have been a factor. He was identified as 39-year-old GW McNeill Jr. of Merrillville, Indiana.

The Lake County coroner’s office determined he died of blunt force trauma and ruled his death an accident.

Indiana State Police and the coroner’s office are investigating the crash.