BEDFORD – A Heltonville man was arrested on a warrant after he was driving intoxicated and crashed his car on December 11, 2022.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on that day at 9:15 a.m. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of an accident with possible injuries at 2424 Leatherwood Road.
According to Deputy Harrison Fleetwood, when officers arrived they found a red Ford Focus flipped on its top on the north side of the road.
Police say the driver was traveling west on Leatherwood Road crested a hill and ran off the roadway, hitting a ditch which caused the vehicle to flip on its top.
Officers found numerous alcoholic beverage cans around the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Police found 24-year-old Austin Gulley, of Heltonville, standing off the roadway bleeding from a cut above his left eye and complaining of possible glass in his eyes.
An IU LifeLine ambulance responded to the scene. EMTs treated his laceration and flushed his eyes. He refused to be transported to the hospital.
Gulley told officers he was driving and on his cell phone attempting to change the music on his phone and when he looked up it was “too late” and he had run off the roadway, overcorrected, and hit the ditch and his vehicle overturned.
Police say Gulley smelled of alcohol and his eyes were red and glassy. He agreed to be transported to IU Health Hospital for a blood draw. On the way to the hospital, Gulley complained about becoming confused and dizzy.
After the blood draw and a medical evaluation. Gulley was transported home. His vehicle was towed by Mikel’s Wrecker Service.
On April 5, 2023, police received the results of the toxicology report. Gulley’s blood alcohol level was 0.273 percent and a warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
