COLUMBUS — A Columbus woman is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly accelerating her vehicle and striking a hospital police officer who was trying to speak with her outside an emergency room on Sunday afternoon.
Officers with the Columbus Police Department were dispatched around 2:30 p.m. to Columbus Regional Hospital on 17th Street following initial reports of a vehicle crash that left an officer injured.
Upon arriving at the scene, investigators determined that an officer with the Columbus Regional Hospital Police Department had approached a black Ford Explorer parked near the emergency room entrance. The driver, later identified as 32-year-old Audrey Lewis of Columbus, was reportedly acting erratically inside the vehicle.
When the officer reached out and grabbed the driver-side door handle, Lewis allegedly hit the gas and accelerated away. The sudden movement yanked the officer and threw him to the pavement, resulting in injuries to his head, hip, and back.
The injured hospital officer was admitted to Columbus Regional Hospital for treatment and has since been evaluated and released. Authorities have not yet released the identity of the injured hospital officer.
Following the incident, Columbus police officers tracked the black Ford Explorer to a residence located in the 8700 block of West Youth Camp Road.
Lewis was taken into custody at the residence without further incident. Before being booked into the Bartholomew County Jail, she was transported back to the hospital for a medical evaluation.
Lewis currently faces several preliminary felony charges of battery, a Level 3 felony, resisting law enforcement in a vehicle causing serious bodily injury, a Level 4 felony, and criminal recklessness, a Level 6 felony.
The Columbus Police Department noted that the investigation into the incident remains active and ongoing, and additional criminal charges may be filed as prosecutors review the case.
