BEDFORD – A Bedford woman was detained on alcohol-related charges after a Bedford Police officer stopped her vehicle on Thursday, June 27.
Bedford Police Sgt. Toby Gerkin was on patrol when he spotted the driver of a black BMW on 28th Street stopped at the intersection of Mitchell Road. The driver failed to use a turn signal but then utilized the signal while making the turn. The officer then noticed the vehicle had an expired license plate.
The officer followed and noticed the driver was swerving within the travel lanes. Sgt. Gerkin initiated a traffic stop at the intersection of Mitchell and SandPit Roads. However, the driver didn’t stop until the State Road 37 bypass was reached.
Once the vehicle came to a stop, he observed a 2024 expiration sticker underneath the 2023 expiration sticker.
The driver was 57-year-old Joyce Thompson. When asked why she was driving erratically, she said she was looking for something in her purse.
Sgt. Gerkin noted Thompson smelled of alcohol, had glassy eyes, and had slurred speech.
While Sgt. Gerkin continued to speak with Thompson, her car began to roll forward multiple times, and she had to be told to apply the parking brake and put the car in gear because it had a manual transmission.
Thompson admitted she drank two and a half screwdrivers at 11:00 a.m. She was asked to step out of the vehicle, and that is when she told police she was “medically fragile” and couldn’t perform some of the field sobriety tests. The tests she did take, she failed.
She performed a preliminary breath test and had a blood-alcohol content of 0.194 percent.
Thompson was detained on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangerment, and OWI with a prior conviction.
She was transported to IU Health Bedford Hospital for a blood draw and then to jail.
Stone City Collision towed the vehicle.
