BEDFORD — A 20-year-old Bedford woman was arrested late Tuesday night after allegedly driving drunk and triggering a multi-vehicle pileup that damaged a city fire engine and three parked cars.
Brynn Marie Volbrecht faces charges of operating while intoxicated, OWI with endangerment, OWI with a BAC over 0.15, and illegal consumption of alcohol.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Bedford Police Officer Michael Bell responded around 10:17 p.m. to the 2400 block of H Street following reports that a suspect vehicle had struck a Bedford Fire Department engine. Emergency responders on scene alerted police that the driver appeared impaired.
Investigating officers found a chain-reaction crash involving five vehicles: Volbrecht’s Ford Explorer, the Bedford Fire Department engine, and three unattended parked cars lined along H Street.
Volbrecht told police she was returning home to fetch an item when she saw the northbound fire engine. According to the driver of the fire truck, Volbrecht failed to slow down in a narrowed section of the road, slamming into the engine and sending vehicles into the row of parked cars.
Officer Bell reported that Volbrecht showed poor balance, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and smelled strongly of alcohol. She admitted to drinking half a bottle of red wine prior to driving.
After failing standard field sobriety tests, a preliminary breath test indicated a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.211. A subsequent certified breath test at the Bedford Police Department registered her alcohol level at 0.189—more than double Indiana’s legal limit of 0.08.
Volbrecht was medically cleared at IU Health Bedford before being booked into the Lawrence County Jail.
