Man charged with multiple felonies in pickup truck crash that killed 18-year-old Crown Point (Ind.) woman, police announce

PORTER, Ind. — An 18-year-old Crown Point (Ind.) man has been charged with multiple felonies, including OWI causing death, for a crash that killed an 18-year-old female passenger Saturday afternoon in Porter.

Saelor Guistolisi, also of Crown Point, was killed after being ejected from a pickup truck driven by Austin Thornton, according to the Town of Porter Police Department and the Porter County Coroner’s Office. Guistolisi had just graduated from high school, says a GoFundMe page organized by her family and friends to help with funeral costs.

“Saelor Guistolisi was an amazing, beautiful and an extraordinary young woman,” the GoFundMe page says. “She had a fiery personality and a smile that would stop you in your tracks. She lit up every room she walked into and would do anything for anyone.”

Thornton has been charged with four felonies, according to police: OWI causing death (Level 5), aggressive driving resulting in death (Level 5), driving while suspended resulting in death (Level 5) and driving while suspended resulting in bodily injury (Level 6). He’s also been charged with multiple misdemeanors.

According to police, authorities responded to a car crash just before 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Waverly Road. Arriving responders found a pickup truck rolled over, police say, resulting in the ejection of a female passenger, later identified as Guistolisi.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Authorities listed blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death.

Police subsequently arrested the driver of the pickup truck, later identified as Thornton, and say alcohol consumption and reckless driving are believed to be factors in the crash.

The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana reports that, according to a probable cause statement, Thornton became enraged after being passed by a smaller car on U.S. Highway 12. He then accelerated and passed the smaller car in a no-passing zone and lost control of the pickup truck while speeding around a bend in the road, said a woman who was driving behind and saw the crash.

According to the report, after Thornton was taken to an area hospital, a blood draw revealed a blood alcohol content of 0.063%. The legal limit in Indiana is 0.08%, but it’s 0.0% for those under 21 years old.