Driver located walking away from crashed pickup stuck in mud
/A Jasonville man with muddy jeans found walking late last night on a county road was arrested for OVWI and leaving the scene after deputies found his pickup truck off a roadway, stuck in mud.
Daniel Paul Felker, 38, Jasonville, was arrested by Deputy Devan Goad of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department early Friday, December 17, following a crash that occurred on Thursday night, December 16.
Deputy Devan Goad was dispatched along with an ambulance after a crash involving one vehicle was reported to Greene County Dispatch at 10:16 p.m. last night – Thursday.
When EMS personnel arrived on scene at the intersection of County Roads 700 North and 1380 West, they saw a man leaving the scene on foot, headed east on CR 700 North toward State Road 59.
Deputy Goad was on the way and encountered the man, later identified as Daniel Felker, about a quarter of a mile from the crash site. Deputy Goad stopped and noticed Felker’s jeans were muddy and the back side of his jeans and shirt were soaking wet. Deputy Goad said Felker had poor balance and almost fell down while walking toward the patrol vehicle. Deputy Goad reported he could smell the odor of alcohol coming from Felker and he showed other signs of intoxication.
Felker allegedly said he didn’t know anything about any wrecks and that he was coming from Jasonville on his way to his house in Midland. He said he’d left his white Chevrolet pickup truck at the Legion in Jasonville and that he’d had previous DUIs and didn’t want to risk driving.
When LPD Officer Cayden Walker and GCSD Deputy Robert Just arrived in the area to assist, Deputy Just located a white Chevrolet Silverado off the side of the road with damage to the front driver’s side. The truck was stuck in mud. He also found a stop sign that had been run over and damaged by the truck.
Felker was transported to the Linton Police Department where Officer Walker attempted to administer standard field sobriety testing. Felker was failing the tests, which were stopped for safety reasons after Felker almost fell. Felker agreed to take a chemical breath test but was unable to complete it so he was transported to Greene County General where a blood draw was obtained – results pending.
Felker was booked into the Greene County Jail at 12:35 a.m. this morning – Friday. Bond information not available but he did post bond and was released later the same day and will be scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing.
Felker is facing charges of:
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor,
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, with a prior within seven years, a Level 6 felony,
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor,
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior within seven years, a Level 6 felony, and
Leaving the scene of an accident, a Class B misdemeanor.