Published: May 14, 2009 10:29 am      

Businessman airlifted after crash along Ind. 13

MIDDLEBURY — The owner of Max Myers Motors, 209 N. Main St., was seriously injured in a crash Wednesday morning.

Neal Myers, 45, of Middlebury was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Venture van that collided with a semi along Ind. 13, between C.R. 10 and Ind. 120, according to staff at Max Myers.

An Elkhart County Sheriff’s deputy at the scene reported the mini-van was driving north along Ind. 13 when it went left of center and struck the back of a semi at 8:40 a.m. The mini-van then rolled off the east side of the road and landed on its side, the deputy reported.

Myers suffered a severely broken left leg, broken arm, collapsed lung and lacerations. He was airlifted to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, where he underwent surgery to repair his leg, according to Tina Stoller, office manager at the auto dealership.

“He is recovering. There is no head injury,” she reported.

The semi driver, Daniel O. Zeiger, 46, Bremen, was not injured. He told police he tried to avoid the crash by driving to the right, but the vehicles still collided. The semi’s fuel tank leaked, and the spill was cleaned up on site.

According to a press release by Sheriff’s Cpl. James Snyder, Myers’ injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.