Beech Grove traffic stop nets arrest of man tied to Kansas crash killing 3

BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — A traffic stop Wednesday night in Beech Grove netted a man wanted in connection to a crash of two pickup trucks that killed a Wichita, Kansas, teacher, and his adult son and a 16-year-old nephew, the Butler County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Middle school teacher, Britton “Eliot” Eichbauer, 46, his son Arlo Eichbauer, 19, and his nephew Silas Eichbauer, 16, died in a crash about 10:10 p.m. Central time June 11 on U.S. 400 Southwest about 10 miles east of the El Dorado interchange for U.S. 54 East and U.S. 77 North.

An arrested warrant was issued July 3 for Tyler J. Beauclaire, 24, of Mansura, Louisiana, charging him with three county of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery. Beauclaire on Thursday remained in the Marion County jail awaiting extradition to Kansas. Staffing issues at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office meant it was unable to provide Beauclaire’s jail-booking photo to Beech Grove Police Department until Friday.

About 7 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, Beech Grove Police Department was alerted that a wanted man was driving northbound on South Ninth Avenue in a white Nissan Armada SUV pulling a U-Heal trailer.

Capt. Tyler Frankel with Beech Grove police found the SUV at the intersection of South Ninth Avenue and West Churchman Avenue and did a traffic stop, where Beauclaire was placed in handcuffs and arrested.

Butler County, Kansas, investigators think Beauclaire was driving a black Chevrolet truck that struck the Toyota Tacoma truck that Eliot Eichbauer was driving on U.S. 400. Investigators think Beauclaire left Kansas and went back to Louisiana for a period before he was found in in Beech Grove.

Beauclaire and the two passengers in the Chevrolet truck were taken to a Wichita-area hospital after the crash, and deputies apparently did not catch up with Beauclaire after he was released from the hospital.

The aggravated battery counts are for the passengers in the Chevrolet truck, who sustained serious injuries in the crash, the Butler County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s office isn’t releasing their names.

A witness had told deputies that the Chevrolet pickup had been weaving back and forth just before the crash. The sheriff’s office says alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash, but toxicology results had not been completed by Thursday afternoon.

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