Jasonville man accused of battery by ramen noodles

A Jasonville man is facing a charge of battery for allegedly throwing a bowl of hot ramen noodles on his girlfriend.

Donte L. Riggan, 31, Jasonville, is being summoned to appear in Greene Superior Court in January as a result of an investigation by Deputy James Carpenter of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputy Carpenter was dispatched in early November to the Jasonville Police Department to take a report from a woman about a battery that had allegedly occurred outside the city limits. During his investigation, Deputy Carpenter interviewed the woman, who said she was Riggan’s girlfriend, and a male friend of Riggan and the girlfriend.

Between the girlfriend and the male friend, Deputy Carpenter learned the two of them plus Riggan had gone to Walmart in Linton then stopped at Casey’s gas station in Linton to get some food before they headed north on State Road 59 then turned on County Road 500 North.

The girlfriend said while the three were at Casey’s, Riggan got some ramen noodles and prepared them inside the station. The vehicle belonged to the male friend, but he sat in the back seat while Riggan drove with the girlfriend in front. Riggan then stopped and asked his girlfriend to drive but while she was driving on CR 500 N, Riggan got upset, saying she was driving too fast.

The girlfriend said when she then slowed down to five mph, Riggan started to open the door and said he wanted out. So she stopped the car but as he was getting out, Riggan allegedly threw the hot ramen noodles at her face. She said the hot noodles were dumped on the right side of her neck.

The girlfriend then took off in the vehicle, leaving Riggan to walk. She drove to the male friend’s residence in Jasonville then walked to her own home where she put cold cloths and ice on her neck. She then went to the police department to file a complaint.

Deputy Carpenter reported the girlfriend had redness on the right side of her neck. Photographs were taken.

While she was there, Deputy Carpenter and JPD Officer Andrew Duguay then tried to locate Riggan back at the woman’s residence. They heard a noise inside but nobody answered the door. The girlfriend then went with them to her residence in an attempt to locate Riggan but she said he had left. Except right after the officers left, she called and said she saw Riggan take off running from a shed.

After a couple of weeks, Riggan had not been located and a criminal case was filed against him in Greene Superior Court. He is facing a charge of battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. A summons was sent to Riggan ordering him to appear in court on January 13 for an initial hearing. It was sent out via U.S. Mail with signature confirmation but last week it came back to the courthouse marked “Attempted not known, unable to forward, return to sender.”

JPD Officer Brian Pilant also assisted in this investigation. He took photographs of the noodles that were still splattered in the front seat area of the male friend’s vehicle.