An Indianapolis man is accused of stealing a vehicle in Mooresville, driving it to Greene County where someone reported he was doing doughnuts in a field, wrecking the vehicle near the Wilson Bridge, then not telling the truth about what happened.

Joshua Lewis Parson, 36, of Indianapolis, was arrested by Deputy David Elmore of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department late Monday, December 9. His bond was set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

This past Monday night, someone called the sheriff’s department and said a light-colored SUV was doing doughnuts in a field near the J.L. Wilson Bridge east of Bloomfield.

Deputy Elmore responded along with GCSD Deputy Davis Aerne and Deputy Michael Coy. They arrived around 8:51 p.m. and found the SUV wrecked in a ditch on Ore Branch Road along with three males walking around, either on the road or in the field.

The SUV was a silver 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada registered to a woman in Mooresville. Turned out it had been reported as stolen out of Morgan County.

One of the individuals was a man who said he and his two sons were at a family member’s house when Parson dropped the man’s sister off and they decided to go with Parson to go “shining” or spot lighting for deer. The man said Parson was the person who had been driving the vehicle. He also said he would not have gotten into the vehicle with his sons if he knew it was stolen. The man said Parson had left the scene to go get help from someone to pull the vehicle out of the ditch.

While officers were checking the vehicle and interviewing the man, a red truck drove up with Parson in the passenger seat.

Deputy Elmore reported that when he talked to Parson, Parson claimed he was not driving the vehicle, and that the man and his two sons had borrowed his vehicle, then said it wasn’t his vehicle, and that he didn’t leave to go get help. He also gave the officers another name when asked for his identity. Parson eventually asked for an attorney to be present for any further questioning.

Officer Wayman JR Blazier of the Bloomfield Police Department arrived and transported Parson to jail. In a search before transport, the key fob to the stolen vehicle was found in Parson’s pocket.

When officers inventoried the stolen vehicle prior to towing, they found the driver’s license of the woman from Mooresville who owned the truck and had reported it as stolen.

When Parson appeared in Greene Superior Court today, Thursday, November 12, he was charged with:
• Driving while suspended – a knowing violation with a prior conviction within 10 years, a Class A misdemeanor,
• False informing resulting in substantial hindrance to law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor, and
• Theft, a Level 6 felony.