A Bloomfield woman driving toward Owensburg early Saturday wound up in a ditch, then in Greene County Jail on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated at twice the legal limit.

Heather Elaine Hatfield, 32, was arrested by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Davis Aerne.

Deputy Aerne was dispatched to southeastern Greene County early Saturday about a vehicle off the roadway.

Around 6:11 a.m., he located a green passenger car in the ditch in the area of East State Road 58, west of South Black Ankle Road. The car had major damage to the rear of the vehicle and the front bumper area.

Hatfield was the driver and was not reported to have been injured.

Aerne said Hatfield told him she was on her way from Bloomfield to Owensburg, the steering was going out, and she didn’t know what happened. He detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage and said Hatfield also told him she’d drank a few beers at the Spot Lounge in Bloomfield, and at a friend’s house, and she’d had a mixed drink as well.

Hatfield allegedly passed the one leg stand but failed other field sobriety tests both on the scene and at the Greene County Sheriff’s Department.

She agreed to submit to a chemical test and the deputy reported that at 7:17 a.m., the result showed she had a blood-alcohol concentration of .16, which is twice the legal limit of .08.

During booking, jail staff reported they found a small container in her backpack that contained pills believed to be Alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance – they have been sent to the lab for analysis.

Charges filed against Hatfield include:

Operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to .15 or more, a Class A misdemeanor
Possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor