Midwest
Semi-truck driver held on ICE detainer after 4 killed in head-on crash
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The driver of a semi-truck at the center of a multi-vehicle crash that left four dead in Indiana is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a detainer was placed on him.
Indiana State Police said the fatal crash happened Tuesday around 4 p.m. in the area of State Road 67 and County Road 550 East in Jay County, where the truck collided with a van. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News that driver Bekzhan Beishekeev is a Kyrgyzstani national who entered the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One cell phone app on Dec. 19, 2024, at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, and he was released into the U.S. via parole by the Biden administration.
Beishekeev, 30, was reportedly driving on SR 67 in Indiana when he didn’t stop for another slowed semi-truck, swerving instead into oncoming traffic and crashing head-on into a van, killing four people, several of whom were reportedly Amish.
“The investigation shows that a 2019 International semi tractor trailer, driven by Gert Pretoruis (44) of Geneva, was traveling east on State Road 67 near County Road 550 East when it slowed down for traffic,” Indiana State Police said. “A 2022 Freightliner semi tractor trailer, driven by Bekzhan Beishekeev (30) of Philadelphia, PA, that was also eastbound did not stop and swerved into the westbound lane hitting a 2011 Chevrolet van that was driven by Donald Stipp (55) of Portland.”
SUSPECT ACCUSED OF CAUSING MASSIVE FATAL PILEUP WAS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO OBTAINED CDL IN NEW YORK: FEDS
Bekzhan Beishekeev, left, has been taken into ICE custody following a fatal crash on Feb. 3, 2026, in Jay County, Ind., near the state’s border with Ohio. (Jay County Sheriff’s Department)
Indiana State Police, citing the Jay County Coroner’s Office, identified the four victims killed in the collision as Henry Eicher, 50, Menno Eicher, 25, Paul Eicher, 19, and Simon Girod, 23 of Bryant, Ind.
“ICE issued an immigration detainer against Beishekeev with the Jay County Jail on Feb. 4. And, because the state of Indiana cooperates with ICE, we were able to take him into custody on the morning of February 5,” DHS said in a statement. “He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.”
“Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday,” added DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “It is incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating semi-trucks on America’s roads. These sanctuary governors must stop giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses before another American gets killed.”
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY KILLS DRIVER IN POLICE CHASE
The scene of the crash on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in Jay County, Ind. (Fox News)
State Police also said, “The Indiana State Police Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is working with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Division, Jay County Sheriff’s Department, and Jay County Coroner’s Office to complete this investigation.”
A GoFundMe page purportedly set up by a family member of Stipp’s said he is in stable condition and underwent surgery for a broken arm.
The area in Jay County, Ind., where the crash happened on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, according to Indiana State Police. (Google Maps)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The page at one point described Stipp as “still unconscious” at a hospital.
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Detroit ― Metro Detroiters lifted up small paper cups of Vernors in Eastern Market on Sunday and celebrated the 160th anniversary of the iconic Michigan beverage.
Dozens of people crowded a block on Riopelle Street in Detroit to participate in the toast. After a countdown, they cheered and drank the fizzy drink.
The toast was part of the Vernors 160th Anniversary Celebration, which was organized by the Vernor’s Ginger Ale Collector’s Club and held in Eastern Market. Hundreds attended the event, where Vernor’s lovers had the chance to savor Vernors ice cream and floats and sample a cream ale drink. Other activities included buying 160th anniversary T-shirts and getting Vernors temporary tattoos.
Some donned green Vernors shirts or wore gnome-shaped hats made out of paper.
Bridgette Exell of Plymouth said she and her husband came to the event because they love Vernors and they wanted to see the different foods being offered at the celebration.
“I’ve tried a lot of different ginger ales over the years,” she said, “and I think the kind of spicy bite of Vernors is top notch.”
She was waiting in a long line to get Vernors ice cream, which she had never tried before.
Celebrating Vernors history
James Vernor created Vernors and it was first served to the public in 1866, according to the Detroit Historical Society.
Keith Wunderlich of Troy and founder of the Vernor’s Ginger Ale Collector’s Club said many people came to the event in “a pouring rainstorm” to celebrate Vernors, which he thinks is “just absolutely fantastic.”
“It … says a lot,” he said.
Wunderlich said his parents dated at the Vernors soda fountain in Detroit in the 1940s. He said many people of his generation remember seeing the large neon sign on Woodward Avenue at the Vernors plant.
“It’s always part of our life,” he said of Vernors.
The “‘deliciously different’ ginger ale” saw its last bottle “filled and capped at the Woodward Avenue plant on Jan. 18, 1985,” historicdetroit.org said, thereby leaving the city despite plans to reopen elsewhere.
The drink is now owned by Keurig Dr Pepper. The company donated the Vernors that Wunderlich and others served at the celebration.
Several Eastern Market businesses participated in the event. Wunderlich said Detroit City Distillery offered adult beverages made with Vernors, and Marrow in the Market had a Vernors brunch.
Vernors fans celebrate the drink
Wunderlich and other event organizers made samples of cream ale. The drink had been served at Vernors soda fountains, he said. The drink on Sunday consisted of two parts Vernors to one part sweet cream.
Ecorse resident Michele Carmona and her daughter, Lettecia Carmona, sampled the drink.
“It was good,” Lettecia Carmona said.
Michele Carmona, who was wearing a Vernors green shirt with a gnome on it, said she likes Vernors, especially when it’s part of a Boston cooler.
When you drink Vernors, you get a “sensational bubble feeling,” she said.
Milk & Froth Ice Cream created a Vernors ice cream for the event, and it served ice cream and floats from a food truck. Vernors ice cream hasn’t been served since the 1980s, Wunderlich said.
“It was something that some of us that are a little older are familiar with,” said Andy Scheel of Shelby Township.
He said it tastes “pretty similar” to the ice cream of the past.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
The Milwaukee Brewers are making a change at shortstop after weeks of speculation and buzz.
On Sunday, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reported that shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt is coming up and joining the Brewers in the big leagues for the first time.
“Confirmed by a Brewers source: Shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt is Milwaukee-bound,” McCalvy wrote.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
Follow
-
Sports2 minutes agoOnce-dominant Dodgers bullpen unravels again in loss to White Sox
-
World10 minutes agoClaims Israel’s Beirut strike pushed Trump on Iran announcement
-
News35 minutes agoFate of historic slavery exhibit targeted by Trump hangs in the balance
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoPasadena man run over by catalytic converter thieves faces long recovery
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoVernors fans tickled to celebrate 160 years of iconic pop at Detroit event
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoChicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants preview, Sunday 6/14, 2:10 CT
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoDallas Stadium Live: Traffic, weather & match updates — Japan vs Netherlands
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoSpirit Airlines acquisition bid submitted by Mooney International, company says
