By Halea Franklin

Crossing the center line and failing to use a turn signal resulted in the arrest of a 30-year-old Linton man in the early hours of March 2.

Late in the evening hours of March 1, Linton Police Department Officer Janzen Franklin initiated a traffic stop after a 2015 white Chevy truck crossed the center line and failed to use a turn signal at the intersection of 1st Street NE and State Road 54.

When walking to the vehicle, Officer Franklin smelled an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from driver William Hooker. When stepping out of the vehicle, Hooker was stumbling and could not keep his balance. Franklin conducted a field sobriety test, which Hooker failed. According to the probable cause affidavit, Hooker admitted to Officer Franklin that he’d been at the Vault drinking alcoholic beverages.

Hooker denied a chemical test. Franklin then prepared to place Hooker in handcuffs. Franklin asked him to put his hands behind his back, and Hooker, according to the probable cause affidavit, pulled away from Franklin and turned around. Franklin placed Hooker in handcuffs and informed him a search warrant would be requested for the chemical test.

While waiting for the search warrant to be approved, a second field sobriety test was conducted, this time at the Linton Police Station. Hooker again failed the test.

Once the search warrant was approved by Greene County Superior Court Judge Dena Benham, Hooker was transported to Greene County General Hospital for a blood draw. The blood draw was administered with results pending.

Hooker has been charged with:

·        Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person, a Class A Misdemeanor

·        Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated, a Class C Misdemeanor

·        Resisting Law Enforcement, a Class A Misdemeanor

Hooker was booked into Greene County Jail March 2 with Franklin as the arresting officer. His bond was set at $4,000 with 10 percent surety allowed. He was released after posting $400 bond.