BEDFORD — A Fort Wayne woman was arrested on August 30, 2025, after police found her in a damaged vehicle and suspected she was driving while intoxicated.
Erika L. Garrett, 45, was taken into custody on multiple charges, including operating a vehicle while intoxicated, OWI endangerment, and OWI with a prior conviction, OWI with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 or greater, and false reporting.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Bedford Police Officer Sarah Haluda, officers were dispatched to the Indiana Center for Recovery at 1600 23rd Street in reference to a hit-and-run accident.
The caller, identified as Garrett, was unable to provide an accurate location and sounded impaired. When Officer Haluda arrived, she found Garrett in a Chevrolet Equinox with heavy damage to the front passenger side. The officer observed pieces of a vehicle on the ground near a telephone pole and noted that Garrett was unsteady on her feet, slurring her speech, and unable to maintain her balance.
Garrett told the officer that a male driver in a blue SUV had hit her and left the scene, but officers found evidence that her vehicle had struck the telephone pole, with pieces of the pole embedded in her front passenger tire rim. Despite this, Garrett continued to insist that another vehicle had hit her.
Garrett admitted to drinking multiple Jack Daniel’s “shooters” before driving from Fort Wayne to Bedford. When she agreed to a preliminary breath test, she had a blood-alcohol level of .283. She was transported to the Bedford Police Department, where a certified breath test resulted in a .283 g/210 L of breath. Due to her high level of intoxication, Garrett was taken to IU Health Bedford Hospital for medical clearance before being transported to the Lawrence County Jail.
A check of her criminal history revealed a prior OWI conviction in 2020.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This article is based on the information provided in the Probable Cause Affidavit and does not represent a final determination of guilt or innocence.
