Police board fires Indiana officer after hit-and-run crash

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - A police merit board has fired a northwest Indiana sheriff's officer charged in a hit-and-run crash after last year's Gary Air Show.

The Post-Tribune reports that the Lake County Sheriff's Police Merit Board on Thursday voted to fire Lt. Guy Mikulich effective immediately. The board previously found the 38-year-old guilty of eight disciplinary charges.

Police say Mikulich's unmarked car struck Derrick Dircks of Frankfort, Illinois, on July 10, 2016, along a street following the air show, causing serious injuries. Police say Mikulich was stopped about 1ˆ½ miles away, and a blood draw showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.13 percent.

Mikulich's attorney Christopher Cooper said he's "certainly disappointed" and plans to ask a Lake County judge to overturn the board's decision.

Mikulich still faces criminal charges from the incident.

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Information from: Post-Tribune, http://posttrib.chicagotribune.com/