🔥 Hook — A Quiet Road, A Sudden Disaster
Late at night, when most of rural Indiana sleeps, a single impact shattered the calm along State Road 218. What began as a routine drive unfolded into a chaotic emergency scene involving a horse-drawn Amish buggy and a Jeep — leaving multiple injuries and an investigation still underway.
📍 The Scene of the Collision
BERNE, Indiana — A late-night collision on State Road 218 turned a peaceful rural road into a chaotic emergency scene after a Jeep struck a horse-drawn Amish buggy, throwing nearly everyone out of the vehicle and sending multiple people to hospitals. First responders were called to the crash at about 11:20 p.m. on October 7; when they arrived they found a badly damaged buggy scattered across the pavement and a Jeep in a ditch.
👥 Nine People, Seven Injured
The buggy was carrying nine people at the time of the crash. Local officials say a total of seven people from the buggy were injured and taken for medical care; reports describe six of those occupants as juveniles, though some local accounts list slightly different age breakdowns. The buggy’s driver, 32-year-old Ruben L.M. Schwartz of Berne, was airlifted to Lutheran Hospital. Joseph L.M. Schwartz, 20, and five juvenile passengers were transported by ambulance to Parkview Hospital. Two other passengers — Saraetta L. Schwartz, 32, and a 2-year-old — declined treatment at the scene.
🚗 The Vehicle Behind the Impact
Adams County Sheriff Dan Mawhorr told reporters the Jeep — driven by 33-year-old Bradley J. Ocilka of Burlington, Kentucky — struck the slower-moving buggy from behind while traveling eastbound on SR 218. Ocilka was taken to the hospital for a legal blood draw but declined other medical attention at the scene. At the time of reporting no charges had been filed while the crash remains under investigation.
🛟 A Coordinated Emergency Response
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including Adams County EMS, Berne and Geneva police departments, the Berne Fire Department, Wells and Jay County EMS, Indiana State Police, and Lutheran Hospital’s Flight Team. Officials described the scene as chaotic, with first responders working quickly to provide medical treatment and to secure the site.
✨ Closing Transition — An Investigation Still Open
Every detail from this late-night crash continues to be examined as authorities piece together how a routine stretch of highway became the location of such a severe incident. With injuries spanning adults and children and multiple agencies involved, the community remains focused on both recovery and answers.
