BEDFORD – A Bedford man was arrested on Saturday, July 19, after a Bedford Police Officer responded to Rocket Fuel Inc. at 401 16th after a report of a possible intoxicated driver.
Police arrested 36-year-old Nathan Sizemore on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, possession of marijuana, and OWI with a controlled substance in the body.
Bedford Police Department Officer Sarah Haluda, officers arrived at 9:30 p.m. and was told by store employees Sizemore had fallen into a pop display and a lighter display, knocked over the merchandise in the store, and appeared to be under the influence of something.
A bystander told police Sizemore was now in a Ford SUV attempting to drive from the scene.
Officer Jerrett Tedrow made contact with Sizemore after repeatedly telling him to stop and put the vehicle in park.
Police say Sizemore was argumentative and began complaining that he was not doing anything wrong. He was asked to step out of his vehicle.
He continued to argue while leaning up against his vehicle and flailing his arms in the air.
Police found a prescription pill bottle in the cup holder of the vehicle and Sizemore grabbed it and started to shake it aggressively in Officer Haluda’s face to show her the bottle was full of change.
He was asked to submit to standardized field sobriety tests and initially refused. He finally agreed to do the tests and decided to submit to a portable breath test.
Sizemore had slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet. He told police he was struggling to stand due to an issue with his legs from childhood. Police say he continued to hold himself up against his vehicle while speaking to officers.
Sizemore continued to argue with police officers while taking the tests. While taking the tests he fell forward and nearly fell into Officer Haluda. He did perform the breath test and had a blood-alcohol content of 0.019 percent.
He admitted he had one beer, one shot, and a Mike’s Hard Lemonade several hours before the incident and ingested a Lortab that his dentist had prescribed.
Sizemore continued to stumble around and began to speak gibberish to the police.
Sizemore was asked to complete 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.
He complied with Officer Haluda’s requests but continued to argue that because he was “under the legal limit and was fine.”
Sizemore then admitted that he had also used Xanax and marijuana. The test found Sizemore positive for stimulants/cocaine, narcotics, depressants, and cannabis.
Sizemore was transported to IU Health Bedford Hospital for a medical evaluation and a blood draw.
While at the hospital Sizemore continued to be loud and belligerent and nodded off several times at the hospital.
Once medically cleared he was transported to jail.
Officers found a package of marijuana in his vehicle.
