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2 Charged After Road Rage Incident On I-65 In Northwest Indiana

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two people are facing charges following a road rage incident on Interstate 65 in northwest Indiana.

About 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, troopers responded to a report of the incident involving two drivers on I-65 near Rensselaer, Ind., according to Indiana State Police. The vehicles continued northbound on I-65 before getting off at the Roselawn/Demotte exit, where a trooper saw a Chevrolet TrailBlazer following the vehicle of the person who made the report "at an unsafe distance."

After stopping the TrailBlazer at the intersection of I-65 and State Road 10, troopers smelled alcohol on the breath of the driver, Joseph Biacan, state police said. Biacan, of Maryland, then failed a breath test for alcohol. Containers of alcohol were also found in the SUV.

Biacan's passenger, 30-year-old Nicole A. Jacobson, of Hawaii, became "combative and uncooperative" after being asked to provide her identification and a statement on the incident, state police said. Troopers also smelled alcohol on Jacobson's breath, and noticed open containers of alcohol on her lap and the car's floorboard.

Jacobson then began to stumble into traffic during questioning, failing to cooperate with verbal commands, state police said. As she was being handcuffed, Jacobson continued to act combatively and began striking the responding troopers. She later tried to remove the handcuffs and kicked the dashboard of the cruiser she was placed in.

She then kicked a trooper's hand as it was rested against a car door, state police said. The trooper wasn't injured, but an ambulance was called to respond to Jacobson's "high level of intoxication," and her claim that she was pregnant.

Jacobson was taken to Franciscan Health in Rensselaer, where she was medically cleared to be processed at the Jasper County Jail, state police said. During the jail's booking process, Jacobson physically assaulted a corrections officer. She was charged with two felony counts of battery of law enforcement, as well as misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and public intoxication.

Biacan was also taken to the Jasper County Jail, where he was charged with a misdemeanor count of operating while intoxicated, state police said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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