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Last updated on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
(JASONVILLE) - A 44-year-old Jasonville man, accused of biting a law enforcement officer, was in court last week, charged with a felony battery count.
Anna Rochelle of the Greene County Daily World reports James Michael Buchanan was allegedly intoxicated when the incident occurred.
Police were dispatched around 11:30 p.m. on Fri., March 8, to a Jasonville residence on S. Virgil Street after a woman called and said someone was outside of her house. She said she could hear their voices and things being moved around on her deck.
Officers Charles Cox, Andrew Duguay and Shawn Husband, all from the Jasonville Police Department, responded, parked a block away, then two went to the back of the house, one to the front.
In short order, officers were heard telling someone to come out of the garage, then they had a man on the ground. He was identified as Buchanan.
The resident told officers the man did not have permission to be inside her fence or on her property.
When an officer asked Buchanan what he was doing at the residence, he reportedly said he lived there. Buchanan lives about two blocks away from the location.
In the probable cause affidavit prepared by Officer Cox, he wrote "Buchanan was covered in mud and his pants were around his ankles, his speech was very slurred, his eyes were red and bloodshot, his balance was very unsteady ... he was very intoxicated."
The officers called for an ambulance due to a high level of intoxication and a contusion on Buchanan head. They reported they believed Buchanan was a danger to himself and others.
Buchanan was transported to the Greene County General Hospital Emergency Room by the Greene County Ambulance Service.
Officer Cox reported that Buchanan became very angry and belligerent to hospital staff and employees and the staff decided he needed to be restrained.
While Cox was assisting in putting soft restraints on Buchanan, he allegedly bit the officer on the abdomen, breaking the skin and causing swelling, redness and pain.
Buchanan was arrested at approximately 4:50 a.m. on Sat., March 9 and transported to the Greene County Jail.
When Buchanan appeared in Greene Superior Court last week for an initial hearing, he was charged with battery resulting in bodily injury -- victim was a law enforcement officer, a class D felony, and criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor.
Buchanan has not posted bond. He remains incarcerated in the Greene County Jail with bond set at $4,500 surety or $450 cash.
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