A Kouts man was airlifted to a Chicago-area hospital late Tuesday afternoon with severe leg and foot injuries after an accident between a moped and a farm tractor pulling a seed planter in Boone Township.
Deputies with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department responded at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to the crash, which occurred at County Roads 150 West and 900 South.
Police said John Gildein Sr., 65, of Kouts, was on a moped eastbound on County Road 900 South, just west of County Road 150 West, when he ran into a seed planter, which was westbound and being pulled by Gary Birky, 62, of Pleasant Township.
Police said the seed planter, at 17 feet wide, was the width of the roadway; no citations were issued and neither alcohol nor drugs were believed to be a factor in the accident.
Gildein was airlifted from the accident site to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill.; his condition was not immediately known.
Birky was not injured in the crash.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
