Head-on collision sends four individuals to hospital via air ambulance 

PUTNAM CO. – A two-vehicle accident occurring on US 231 near Jackson Street sends four individuals to hospitals in Indianapolis via air ambulance.

On Wednesday, July 31, at approximately 4:00 p.m., Indiana State Police Trooper Hunter McCord responded to a two-vehicle accident involving a pickup truck and a Department of Corrections van.  

Preliminary investigation by Trooper Hunter Mccord, who reconstructionist Trooper Rondell Shelton assisted, indicates a 2024 GMC pickup driven by Brad Polster, 47, of Greencastle, Indiana, was traveling northbound on US 231. For an unknown reason, Polster drifted to the south side of US 231, crashing head-on into a 2020 Ford van owned by the Department of Corrections.  The Ford van was driven by Tyler Shoemaker, age 31, of Knightsville, Indiana. Shoemaker is employed as a Correctional Officer at the Putnamville Correctional Facility.  An additional Correctional Officer and one inmate were also in the van.  

Due to the seriousness of the injuries resulting from the accident, all four individuals were transported to hospitals in Indianapolis via air ambulance.  Injuries were non-life-threatening.   

The Indiana State Police was assisted by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, Greencastle Police Department, Greencastle Fire Department, Putnam County EMS, Life Line, Stat Flight, INDOT, and Curtis Wrecker Service.