Police were unable to locate a Jasonville man accused of injuring a woman in a domestic battery. They were told he may have left the area.

Benjamin K. Lewis, 38, of Jasonville, is facing a preliminary charge of domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony. A warrant was issued for his arrest last Friday, October 19.

Officer Ryan Van Horn of the Jasonville Police Department started an investigation one morning in early October when he was dispatched to a Jasonville gas station on the report that a woman was there who had been battered and was asking for help.

When Van Horn arrived, he found the woman in a back room, holding her head. An ambulance was called.

Van Horn reported that when he talked to the woman, she said she had known Lewis for 13 years and they’d been living together for one year in a camper on South Meridian Street.

She allegedly said she woke up from a bad dream at 4 a.m. that morning, got up, and when she wouldn’t go back to bed, Lewis threw a glass candle at her, hitting her in the head. When she wouldn’t quiet down, she said Lewis choked her until she passed out.

After she woke up, she was able to leave with a family member of Lewis who was going to Terre Haute, but on the way, she asked to stop off at a local gas station so she could get help.

The woman was transported by the Greene County Ambulance Service to Greene County General Hospital for treatment of a laceration to her head.

When Officer Van Horn and Chief James Gadberry went to locate and talk to Lewis, he did not answer the door and another family member on the property said he was gone.

When Officer Van Horn spoke to a family member later, they said Lewis knew police had been called about the incident and Lewis had left the Jasonville area to go to Indianapolis.

When Greene County Chief Deputy Prosecutor filed the criminal case against Lewis in Greene Superior Court, he also filed notice that he’s requesting a habitual felony offender sentence enhancement in this case.