Indiana lawmaker charged with drunken driving after freeway crash

SEYMOUR, Ind. — Two legal counts have been filed Monday in opposition to an Indiana state legislator who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after state police say he crashed his pickup truck via an interstate freeway guardrail and drove away.

The prosecutor in southern Indiana’s Jackson County filed misdemeanor costs of driving whereas intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident in opposition to Republican Rep. Jim Lucas of Seymour in reference to the May 31 crash on the interchange of Interstate 65 and Indiana 11, court docket information present.

Police mentioned officers stopped Lucas, 58, strolling close to the place they discovered the badly broken truck, which has a state legislator license plate, parked behind a Seymour carpet retailer almost 3 miles from the crash on the interchange of Interstate 65 and Indiana 11.

A state trooper’s affidavit mentioned Lucas smelled of alcohol, failed a subject sobriety examination and had a blood-alcohol stage of 0.097% on a transportable breath take a look at system greater than an hour after the crash. The state’s authorized restrict to drive is 0.08%. Police mentioned a blood take a look at was performed at a Seymour hospital however that end result was not included in court docket paperwork filed Monday.

No protection lawyer for Lucas was instantly listed in court docket information. Lucas has not responded to voicemail messages left on his cellphone, and his legislative workplace hasn’t commented on the arrest.

Lucas, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2012, is a outstanding supporter of legalizing marijuana and loosening state gun legal guidelines. He has confronted controversy a number of instances for what critics known as racist social media posts.

Lucas’ pickup truck was discovered with main front-end injury and three flat tires, two of which had been worn all the way down to the metallic wheel rims, police experiences mentioned.

Lucas informed a state trooper that he drove away from the crash scene to get assist and that he parked behind the enterprise as a result of he didn’t wish to depart an oil leak in its entrance parking zone, the affidavit mentioned.

When requested what induced the crash, Lucas informed the trooper, “I thought I saw a deer, how’s that?”