Indiana Man Must Pay $427K to Victims in 2017 Carriage Crash

A northeastern Indiana man who pleaded guilty in a drunken-driving crash involving a horse-drawn carriage has been ordered to pay $427,000 in restitution to the crash victims.

A Steuben County judge also sentenced 24-year-old Brady Duvendack of Fremont to 18 months of probation after he pleaded guilty to operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.

The (Angola) Herald-Republican reports that Duvendack was intoxicated when his car rear-ended a horse-drawn carriage on Aug. 16, 2017, ejecting four members of the Schmucker family from the carriage.

Thirteen-year-old Benjamin Schmucker of Montgomery, Michigan, was airlifted to a hospital with multiple injuries. Twenty-two-year-old Reuben Schmucker, also of Montgomery, was also hospitalized.

According to court testimony, Duvendack and his family aided the crash victims after the crash and have helped them during their recovery.