BEDFORD – Bedford Police Department Sgt. Faheem Bade stopped a driver early on Wednesday, April 10, after the driver crossed the double yellow line on 5th Street.
The driver was in a gray Chevrolet Sonic traveling west on 5th Street at 1:34 a.m.
The driver jerked the vehicle back over to the correct side of the road, and Sgt. Bade initiated a traffic stop near 5th Street and Forest Park Drive. The driver slowed down but did not stop until it entered the Murray Forest Park parking lot.
The driver was 54-year-old David Schatz, of Bedford. Sgt. Bade said Schatz was intoxicated. He smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and poor manual dexterity, and had glassy eyes.
Sgt. Bade asked Schatz to step out of the vehicle and found an empty shooter vodka in his shirt pocket.
Schatz failed several field sobriety tests. He submitted to a preliminary breath test and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.223 percent.
He was transported to IU Health Bedford Hospital for a blood draw, and once medically cleared due to his level of intoxication, he was transported to jail on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, OWI endangerment, and OWI with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 or more.
Schatz’s vehicle was inventoried, and police found several open containers of beer, vodka, and whiskey.
