A driver on SR 54 said he dropped a piece of pizza and was reaching for it when he ran off the road and rolled his pickup truck in a field near the fairground last weekend.

Ronald Mack Smith, 58, Dugger, was arrested by Indiana Conservation Officer (ICO) Cole Hollingsworth last Saturday evening, November 13.

Smith was the driver of a blue Dodge Dakota pickup truck that ran off the road and rolled in a field to the east of the 4-H Fairgrounds on State Road 54.

When ICO Hollingsworth, who was westbound on SR 54, arrived in the area around 5 p.m. last Saturday, he saw Smith’s heavily-damaged truck driving north through the field. Approximately four cars were pulled off on the south side of the highway and several people were waving the officer down. ICO Hollingsworth passed the scene then turned around and saw the truck pull out onto the highway heading east. When the officer stopped briefly, a man walked up to the officer’s window and said the truck had rolled over in the field and they were trying to get him to stop.

With his emergency lights and siren on, ICO Hollingsworth followed the blue truck but the truck didn’t pull over right away. It was going 10-15 miles per hour. Before they got to the intersection with SR 57, the ICO requested assistance. The truck continued east through the intersection and continued on SR 54 for about a quarter of a mile past the intersection then pulled over. ICO Hollingsworth noted the truck’s back passenger side tire had completely deflated and Smith was driving on the rim.

ICO Hollingsworth reported that he gave Smith verbal commands to show his hands for two or three minutes but Smith was digging through the interior of the truck. He kept bending over and appeared to be looking for something. Smith finally complied.

The doors on the truck would not open from the inside or outside but the passenger side window was not intact so ICO Hollingsworth told Smith to exit out the window which he did with help from the officer.

Smith was then handcuffed. He allegedly had poor balance and the officer lowered the tailgate on the truck so he could sit down. An ambulance was requested to do a medical check.

Smith allegedly said he was eating a pizza when he dropped a piece and reached over to the passenger side to get it. The next thing he knew, he was off the road and rolling over. When asked why he left the crash scene, he said he didn’t see the officer behind him.

Officer Alan Jackson of the Linton Police Department and Deputy Sgt. Jordan Allor of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department then arrived to assist along with the Greene County Ambulance Service. Smith was checked out in the back of the ambulance, said his back and shoulder hurt but he didn’t want medical treatment.

After Smith was transported, standard field sobriety tests were administered along with a certified chemical breath test. Results showed he had a blood alcohol concentration equivalent to .084.

He was booked into the Greene County Jail at 7:14 p.m. with bond set at $12,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $1,200 and was released later the same day.

Smith is facing charges of:

Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor,
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction within seven years, a Level 6 felony,
Operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to at least .08 but less than .15, a Class C misdemeanor,
Operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to .08 or more with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony, and
Resisting law enforcement using a vehicle, a Level 6 felony.