POTTAWATTAMIE PARK, IN : One dead in Michigan City area wreck on Sunday, February 5th 2017

One woman is dead and another injured after a wreck Sunday near Michigan City.

The driver, Tahiya Spears, also of Michigan City, was able to get out of her vehicle on her own.

Her passenger, Michelle Jones, 41, of Michigan City, suffered a compound leg fracture and was pulled out the back door just as flames were beginning to overtake the vehicle, police said. Jones later died at South Bend Memorial Hospital as a result of her injuries, LaPorte County Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Mike Kellems said. The St. Joseph County coroner's office said Jones died of massive multi-system trauma.

"I feel good that I helped, but I'm no hero. I just did what had to be done," said Michael Sloan, one of the men who pulled her out.

Sloan, 66, said he was inside his house next door when his dog's barking warned him something was wrong.

A 2005 Suzuki Forenza had just struck a house at 203 Friendship Trail in Pottawattamie Park. It also struck a few mailboxes and two small evergreen trees, according to police.

Sloan said he couldn't open the front passenger side door to reach Jones, who frantically kept asking her rescuers to "get me out of here."

He was able to open the back door, and Tony Van Bokkem, who had just run over from his house across the street, pulled the back of her seat down.

The men pulled the woman out through the back door as flames began spreading from under the hood into the passenger compartment.

According to LaPorte County Police, the cause of the crash is unknown. Jones told police before she died she believed Spears had a seizure.

Source :
One dead in Michigan City area wreck