A rural Bloomfield man, found slumped in his seat after crashing his car two weeks ago, is scheduled to appear in court in January. He’s accused of driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .223.   

Eric Wayne Shields, 51, of rural Bloomfield, was arrested by Indiana State Police Trooper Caleb Garvin on Friday, December 13.

Bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. Shields posted $400 and was released the day after his arrest. A criminal case was filed against Shields last week and he is scheduled to be in court for his initial hearing in January.

Trooper Garvin was dispatched around 5:07 p.m. on Friday, December 13, to the area of 7977 North Neill Road where a vehicle had crashed and the driver was reported to be slumped over onto the passenger seat. Shields was the driver.

When Trooper Garvin arrived at 5:18 p.m., Shields was out of the vehicle with rescue personnel. The vehicle, a gray 2006 Pontiac Torrent, was off the roadway with the back right tire in the air.

Trooper Garvin reported Shields had trouble standing and exhibited several signs of intoxication including emitting a strong odor of alcohol, swaying and slurred speech. As a result of the crash, Shields had a lump on the right side of his forehead and some bruising around his eye.

Standard field sobriety tests were not given due to a possible head injury and difficulty in standing.

A nearly empty bottle of Seagrams 7 was found in the center console of the vehicle though Shields allegedly said he did not have any medical issues, did not take any prescription medications and had not consumed any alcohol.

Shields was transported to the sheriff’s department after a portable breath test was administered. Once at the jail, he took a certified chemical test and Trooper Garvin reported the results showed he had a blood alcohol concentration of .223. The legal limit is .08.

When Shields appears in court, he is facing charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor, and operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to .15 or more, a Class A misdemeanor.