Man Trapped In Vehicle Following Crash

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A South Bend man is recovering after a crash on Tuesday in Berrien County that left him trapped in his vehicle. The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department tells us it happened around 3 p.m. on US-12 near Sage Road in Bertrand Township. Responders found 56-year-old Arnold Lancaster pinned in his Dodge minivan. He had to be freed with the Jaws of Life by the Niles Township Fire Department. Sheriff’s deputies learned Lancaster had stopped behind a westbound semi on US-12. The semi had been stopped for a garbage truck that was collecting trash along the road. A second garbage truck, also westbound, came along and the driver didn’t see the other vehicles stopped. He swerved to avoid a crash, but his truck hit Lancaster’s vehicle on the driver’s side rear end, pushing the minivan into the semi. Lancaster was taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend with serious but non-life threatening injuries.