HELTONVILLE – A Heltonville man was arrested after Indiana State Trooper Cody Brown made a welfare check on State Road 446 on Tuesday, February 13.
Trooper Brown responded to a call at 9:26 p.m. from a concerned citizen about a man walking north on State Road 446 near the intersection of State Road 58. The caller said the male was walking away from a red car. The caller said the male was stumbling and was having trouble walking.
Trooper Brown stopped the male, 21-year-old Elijah Hargis, of Heltonville. Hargis told the trooper he had crashed his 2015 red Chevrolet Cruze. He thought he had struck a deer or animal and continued driving.
However, Trooper Brown said the damage to the vehicle was consistent with striking a concrete barrier or other vehicle. The car had gray/ black paint transfer on the right side. There was no animal hair located on the vehicle.
While speaking with Hargis, he admitted to driving the vehicle before walking to his residence on State Road 446.
Trooper Brown said Hargis had been drinking. Hargis admitted he had been drinking from around 3:00 p.m. to possibly 5:00 p.m.
Hargis submitted to field sobriety tests, which he failed.
Hargis was offered a portable breath test and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.183 percent. He had a 0.153 blood-alcohol content at 10:21 p.m. on a certified breathalyzer.
Hargis was detained on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.
