Last Updated on May 27, 2015 by cassnetwork
On Tuesday, May 26 at approximately 10 p.m., Deputies Shane Johnson and Gary Armstrong with the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, as well as first responders and Royal Center Fire responded to a single vehicle accident resulting in a head-on collision with a tree on County Road 650 North, just west of County Road 700 West.
The driver, Jason Daniel Huddleston, 31, of Royal Center, and a passenger, Dakota (Cody) J. Nilson, 17, of Kewanna, were traveling east on County Road 650 N in Huddleston’s Ford pickup truck when Huddleston failed to negotiate a 90 degree turn, resulting in the impact with the tree.
When deputies and medics arrived, both Huddleston and Nilson were still in the vehicle. Huddleston appeared to have suffered minor injuries; Nilson was unresponsive.
Samaritan Lifeline was contacted and requested to meet medics at Logansport Memorial Hospital to airlift Nilson to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne for his injuries.
Shortly after their arrival at Parkview Hospital, Nilson was pronounced dead.
According to a news release, deputies administered a preliminary breath test that showed Huddleston was approximately three times the legal limit.
Huddleston was taken into custody at the scene of the crash and transported to the Cass County Jail where he faces charges of operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .15 or above with a prior conviction, resulting in death, and furnishing alcohol to a minor.
Nilson was a student at Caston High School. Nilson and Huddleston were relatives.
Investigation is continuing into the crash.
SOURCE: News Release from Cass County Sheriff Randy Pryor