After a Jasonville man crashed his car into a telephone pole on J Street NW in Linton on Wednesday, an officer found him unresponsive with the vehicle still running and still in gear.

Jason David Cooper, 43, Jasonville, was arrested by Officer Orry Phipps of the Linton Police Department on Wednesday afternoon, July 7.

Shortly before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Officer Phipps was dispatched to a crash with possible injury in the 300 block of J Street NW in Linton. When he arrived, he found a maroon 2013 Ford Fusion facing east in the grass on the south side of J Street NW. The vehicle had hit a telephone pole and was stopped up against the pole. The driver, later identified as Jason Cooper, was not responding. The vehicle was in gear and still running.

Officer Phipps reported that when Cooper did become alert, due to his disorientation, slurred speech and lack of comprehension of the situation, he appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance. Cooper did not seem to be aware that he had just hit a telephone pole. Cooper allegedly could not open the door of the vehicle but when he did exit, he was unstable and staggered.

While interacting with the officer, who saw a red smoking device in view, Cooper allegedly tried to hide it then picked it up and threw it into the back of the vehicle.

Cooper was taken into custody and the vehicle was towed. Both were taken to the police department.

A search warrant was issued for the vehicle. Officer Phipps reported he found three smoking devices, all with burnt residue, a plastic container with a green leaf-like material, and a glass container with a crystal residue that field-tested positive as methamphetamine. The green material, suspected of being a synthetic drug, was being sent to a lab to be tested – results pending.

Cooper refused to take a blood draw so a search warrant was issued. He was transported to Greene County General Hospital for a medical evaluation and the blood draw – results pending.

Cooper was booked into the Greene County Jail at 3:42 p.m. He was being held without bond pending court appearance.

Criminal charges were filed against Cooper earlier today in Greene Superior Court. He is facing:

Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony,
Possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor,
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor, and
Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor.