By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer

Smith Township firefighters pack up the jaws of life Saturday afternoon at a two-car crash south of Churubusco. The woman in the car shown was airlifted from the scene.

     An Osceola woman had to be airlifted from the scene of a head-on crash Saturday afternoon in Churubusco after another car’s driver fell asleep and drifted into oncoming traffic, according to police.
    Thirty-eight-year-old Carla A. Welsh suffered a broken or dislocated leg or ankle and had to be extricated from the Chrysler Sebring convertible by Smith Township firefighters due to the heavy damage to the car.
    She was then airlifted to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.
    The other driver, 19-year-old Matthew D. Troyer of Mifflinburg, Pa., suffered a broken or dislocated arm, according to the report.
    The report states a passenger in the front seat of Welsh’s car had pain in his abdomen and pelvis areas.
    According to police, Troyer said he had been on the road since 1:30 a.m. Saturday and had fallen asleep at the time of the crash at 3:30 p.m.
    He was northbound when he crossed the line into oncoming traffic north of the intersection with county Road 300 North.
    A person driving south in front of Welsh’s car was able to miss Troyer’s car, and although Welsh also swerved, she could not avoid the impact.
    Both cars hit in the driver’s front side, pushing the engine compartment and tire well into or near the driver’s compartments.
    Troyer’s car spun and ended up facing south in the southbound lane while Welsh’s car was pushed backward into a ditch on the west side of the road.
    Police had to divert traffic onto the shoulder of the northbound lane of U.S. 33 as officers worked to reconstruct the wreck and remove debris.
    The Churubusco Police Department, Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, Smith Township Fire     Department and Whitley County EMS crews responded to the scene.

Residents report mailbox vandalism
    Several local residents south of Columbia City awoke to an aggravating sight Sunday morning — that of their mailboxes lying smashed on the ground.
    According to one resident, the incident occurred before 6 a.m. Sunday morning but after the Sunday newspapers had been delivered.
    County dispatch records indicate one resident said a pickup truck may have hit at least one of the mail boxes.
    Anyone who saw anything that may be related to the incidents are asked to call the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department at 244-6410.