HANCOCK COUNTY — An arrest warrant was pending for one of the drivers involved in an accident early Sunday morning in which a New Palestine woman was killed, according to court records and the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
Andrew Akers, 26, was being sought after he failed to appear in Hancock County Superior Court 2 for a hearing last month regarding court payments and fines stemming from his guilty plea in a criminal case last spring. Judge Dan Marshall issued a warrant for his arrest on Sept. 23.
Akers was driving a 2001 Kia Optima about 6 a.m. Sunday on U.S. 52 east of New Palestine when his car collided head-on with a Chevrolet sedan driven by James Ridenour, 40, New Palestine. A front-seat passenger in Ridenour’s car, Katherine Weaver, 30, a mother of four, died in the crash.
Evidence at the scene and discussions with both drivers indicate the Kia was eastbound on U.S. 52 and turned into the path of the westbound Chevrolet, officials said. Ridenour told deputies he did not have time to try to avoid the collision. The accident happened in the 3500 block of West U.S. 52, between County Roads 300W and 400W.
Both drivers were transported to IU Methodist Hospital with broken bones and other non-life-threatening injuries, said Capt. Robert Harris, public information officer for the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
Weaver has four children ranging in age from 5 to 13, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. Ridenour is the father of two of the children. All four children are staying with family members. The children attend Southern Hancock schools, officials from the school district confirmed Monday.
Officials do not know yet if drugs or alcohol are a factor in the crash; tests have been conducted, and results are pending. The investigation by the county’s Fatal Accident Crash Team is continuing.
In the case last spring that led to the warrant being issued for Akers, he pleaded guilty to two Class A misdemeanor charges of resisting law enforcement; a Class B misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct; and a Class B misdemeanor of public intoxication from an incident in May 2020. He was set to appear last month to settle fees he owed to the court, but he didn’t show up, records show.
Akers was driving with a learners permit, Harris said, and has never had an operator’s license, only a state ID card.
“So he has never gone to take a test at BMV to get an operator’s license,” Harris said in an email to the Daily Reporter.
