A Portage man was taken into custody Friday after he drove into a business and trapped a woman under his car for almost 40 minutes.
Valparaiso police transported Bernard Nygra, 68, of the 2300 block of Samuelson Road, to Porter County Jail on charges of drunken driving causing serious bodily injury; drunken driving endangering others; and drunken driving with a blood alcohol content over .15 percent. The legal limit in Indiana is .08 percent.
According to police, Nygra drove his Jeep through a large glass window and the entire front portion of Orthopedic Balance Therapy, 3125 Calumet Ave. Police and first responders were called to the scene at 10:50 a.m.
A woman who was inside the business was trapped under the car for almost 40 minutes because of the force of the crash. She was transported to the nearby Kmart parking lot and airlifted by helicopter to a Chicago hospital. Police did not release her name; her immediate condition is not known. She was the only person injured inside the business.
Nygra displayed signs of intoxication, police said, and was not injured in the accident. He was taken to Porter Regional Hospital for a blood-alcohol blood test before he was transported to the jail.
Police continue to reconstruct the crash, and city building inspectors were called to assess damage to the building.
