BEDFORD – A Bedford man was arrested after Bedford Police Dispatch received a 911 call reporting an erratic driver in a dark blue pickup truck without a license plate traveling north on State Road 37 near the intersection of 16th Street.
Officer Jarrett Tedrow found the pickup entering the Long John Silver’s parking lot. the Chevrolet Silverado didn’t have a license plate. After finishing going through the drive through the pickup turned onto 16th Street and then pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot. The officer initiated a traffic stop.
The driver was 27-year-old Dylan Sipes. Officer Tedrow found Sipes to be lethargic, with slow speech and poor manual dexterity. The officer informed Sipes of the missing license plate and then asked Sipes to step out of the vehicle to perform field sobriety tests. Sipes failed those tests.
He then submitted to a SoToxa test. SoToxa is a handheld analyzer that uses an oral fluid swab to detect the presence of six kinds of drugs: cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, cannabis (THC), amphetamine and benzodiazepines. Sipes tested positive for meth and amphetamine.
Sipes refused to submit to a certified chemical test. He was detained, put in the rear of Officer Stewart Ratcliff’s vehicle, and transported to the Bedford Police Department.
At the police department, Sipes admitted he had smoked meth the night before.
Police requested a warrant for a blood draw. That warrant was granted by Superior Court II Judge Robert Cline. Sipes was transported to IU Health Bedford Hospital.
Sipes was then transported to jail on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, OWI under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of meth, unlawful possession of a syringe, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was issued a citation for OWI refusal.