Driver arrested after fleeing scene of flipped vehicle
Jasper police charged Grant E. Kimmel, 22, of Greene Street, Jasper, with operating while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a crash after he allegedly ran into a utility pole on Birk Drive Friday night.
Authorities were called to 2618 Birk Drive at about 10 p.m. for the report of a flipped over car. When officers arrived, they found a 1998 Toyota Camry on its driver’s side and determined the driver of the vehicle had fled on foot. According to police, the Camry had struck a utility pole and guy wire causing it to roll over.
Officers were able to located the driver, identified as Kimmel, a short distance away from the crash near the 26th Street intersection.
He was taken into custody and transported to Memorial Hospital for medical clearance. Kimmel’s blood alcohol content was .076 percent and allegedly tested positive for the presence of marijuana and benzodiazepine.
He was charged with operating while intoxicated, operating while intoxicated with endangerment and leaving the scene of a crash and booked into the Dubois County Security Center.
This story has been updated to include further details of the blood draw.
My only question is a BAC of .076. I thought you had to do .08 or higher to be arrested for OWI, but my experience is limited and there may be more to it, so please speak up on this. How can he be arrested for OWI if lower than .08?
Maybe because he left the scene. In my opinion, he should be charged.
Agree, but leaving the scene of an accident, if valid, is a separate charge (from OWI), and the initial story just indicated OWI and a BAC of .076, which didn’t make sense. More details have now been included which explains the OWI charge – the presence of other substances. I wish this paper wouldn’t be so quick to publish incomplete or inaccurate details that don’t add up – in these cases if the paper wants to get a jump on a story then simply indicate OWI (without the initial numbers) if it can’t be initially supported by then-available info.