BEDFORD,— A Bedford man, Howard Mitchell, 57, was arrested and charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, after a witness reported his vehicle nearly causing another crash near an existing collision site in Lawrence County.
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit filed by Indiana State Police Trooper Caroline Roberts, the incident occurred on November 15, near the intersection of State Road 446 and State Road 58 at approximately 6:15 p.m.
Trooper Roberts responded to a request for assistance regarding a possible intoxicated driver. Upon arrival, she met with Lawrence County Deputy Carter and Officer Flynn, who had stopped two separate vehicles, both with allegedly intoxicated drivers.
Deputy Carter informed Trooper Roberts that a Pleasant Run Volunteer Firefighter had reported seeing a male driver, later identified as Howard Mitchell, narrowly miss two cars that were stopped due to a crash nearby. The firefighter also reported that Mitchell’s truck ran off the road into a ditch.
Trooper Roberts focused her attention on Mitchell. During their initial conversation, Roberts noted a strong odor of alcohol on Mitchell’s breath, along with watery eyes and slow speech. Mitchell agreed to perform standardized field sobriety tests, which he failed. Howard submitted to a portable breath test, which registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.150.
After advising Mitchell of his rights, Trooper Roberts transported him to the Lawrence County Jail to perform a certified breath test. The test, administered at 7:22 p.m., yielded a result of 0.146%, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08%.
During the transport, Mitchell reportedly told the trooper he had consumed three beers at his mother-in-law’s home, citing her death the previous day as the reason for the gathering. The affidavit notes that Mitchell repeatedly asked the trooper to “just take him home,” arguing that he was a limo driver and the arrest would cause significant job issues. Trooper Roberts refused the requests
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.
