A Switz City man was arrested last weekend after he somehow wound up in a ditch while walking along a highway in the middle of the night. He crawled out of the ditch, right into the path of a GCSD deputy’s patrol vehicle.

John Thomas Rogers, 27, Switz City, was arrested by Deputy Zachary Goad of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department early Saturday, February 22.

Deputy Goad was dispatched to State Road 54 west of Bloomfield around 3:51 a.m. Saturday to check on a man who was walking along the highway wearing dark clothing. Deputy Goad found the man, identified as Rogers, walking westbound on the shoulder of the highway near the bridge over White River. When Deputy Goad stopped to check on him, Rogers said he was walking to Switz City and didn’t need help or a ride.

Then at 4:16 a.m. when GCSD Sgt. Bobby Pierce was traveling the same highway, he was forced to swerve out of his lane and brake to avoid hitting Rogers who was crawling out of a ditch. His upper body in the roadway.

Sgt. Pierce stopped and reported that Rogers then stumbled into the roadway. Deputy Goad arrived back on the scene and Rogers allegedly said he had stumbled over the rocks on the side of the road.

Deputy Goad reported Rogers exhibited signs of intoxication. He failed standard field sobriety testing then was transported to jail, booked in at 4:47 a.m.

His bond was set at $500 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $50 and was released but is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow, February 27, for an initial hearing.

He’s facing a preliminary charge of public intoxication that endangered his life, a Class B misdemeanor.