Man who killed Chesterton teacher in high-speed crash gets 5 years in prison

Yahoo

14-02-2025

PORTAGE, Ind. — A man was sentenced to five years in prison for killing a Chesterton Middle School teacher in a 2022 high-speed crash.
Lauren Thompson, 24, who taught eighth grade at Chesterton Middle School, was sitting at a red light on the evening of Nov. 8, 2022 at the intersection of Willowcreek and Lute.
Arthur Schmidt, driving an SUV, was traveling southbound on Willowcreek over 100 mph and slammed into the back of Thompson's vehicle.
Thompson's vehicle was struck with such force that it hit a third vehicle and caused secondary collisions between three other vehicles. She died at the scene.
Schmidt was airlifted in serious condition. He was charged with reckless homicide and criminal recklessness.
Thompson was in her second year of teaching English at Chesterton Middle School when she was killed.
'We are devastated': Chesterton teacher dead following 6-vehicle crash; speed blamed
'Lauren was a shining star on the CMS faculty and was loved by her students and fellow staff members,' Principal Mike Hamacher said in a statement after the crash. 'This is a great loss to our students, faculty, and staff members.'
Schmidt was sentenced to five years in prison with one year suspended for probation to follow.
'We are comfortable with the sentencing but uncomfortable that this is the maximum punishment,' family told the Northwest Indiana Times after the hearing.
The Porter County prosecutor Gary Germann told WGN News he wanted to explain and clarify the sentence.
He sent the following explanation of the sentencing to media, saying if Schmidt was sentenced on both counts it would have been double jeopardy. The max sentence in the case was six years.
'I am told there is a great deal of concern in our community about the result in the above case. This may be the first time in six years I have felt the need to explain and clarify as best I can the decisions we made in a case. Arthur Schmidt was initially charged with two counts: Reckless Homicide and Criminal Recklessness with a Motor Vehicle Causing Death. Both counts are Level 5 felonies and per our legislature each count carries a sentencing range from 1-6 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections along with a maximum of a $10,000 fine. This gets a little tricky but our courts have held that double jeopardy would limit the sentencing in this particular case to a maximum of six years. The facts of the crime are virtually the same so the law of double jeopardy is such that the defendant while he may be convicted of both offenses the convictions would 'merge' for sentencing purposes. Said another way he would have only been legally sentenced on one of the Level 5 felonies. Thus, the maximum sentence in this case was from the outset always six years. It did not matter to us to which count the defendant entered a guilty plea because we could still pursue the maximum sentence which we did. By doing so we saved the family the stress of a week long trial. For us we were able to get what we wanted without the risk and the expense of a trial. For us it was a win/win situation other than our community tragically lost an amazing young woman as a result of the crash. I am not sure this explains the legal/factual issues with which we dealt but I hope this gives the community some insight from the perspective of the attorneys assigned to the case.'
His sentencing date is not available at this time.
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