BEDFORD – A Bedford man was arrested early Sunday morning after a Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputy stopped him for being stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of John Williams Boulevard and Bell Back Road for an extended period of time.
When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver, 31-year-old Matthew Johnson was sitting with his head laid back and his mouth open and appeared to be unconscious.
The officer knocked on the window and yelled multiple times in an attempt to wake Johnson but he could not be aroused. Then the officer attempted to open every door but found they were locked. An ambulance was requested to the scene.
Additional attempts to wake Johnson were made by the officer by using his strobe light feature on his flashlight and continued to knock on the windows and yell at Johnson.
Approximately after 7 minutes of attempting to wake Johnson, his eyes fluttered but he could not keep them open. Once he finally awoke he appeared to be extremely confused.
Johnson then took his foot off the brake and the vehicle began rolling backward downhill, where the rear of his vehicle collided with the front of the officer’s patrol car.
Johnson then opened the door and the officer ordered him to put the vehicle in park. It was at that time the officer was able to reach inside the vehicle and removed the keys from the ignition.
Johnson told the officer he “had a buzz”, and inside his pockets were found multiple pills and a “corner baggy” containing crystal meth.
Johnson went on to tell the officer he had taken Suboxone and was drinking Corona and Jim Beam
He was arrested on charges of possession of meth, possession of a controlled substance, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated on a controlled substance.
After being transported to jail Johnson fell and hit his head and had to be transported to IU Health Bedford Hospital for treatment.
