The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1472537
front passenger side damage to the bumper and the head- light, but Kugler said it was from an earlier accident in Gibson County the day prior. Gibson County did not work an accident report for Kugler on that vehicle and only re- ceived a call about it, but was unaware of where the damages were and didn't have an officer respond to the report, so it is unknown if the passenger side damage was caused by hitting the Pike County ambulance. While speaking with Kugler, police could smell the odor of alcohol coming from his breath and he had slurred speech, a bloodshot right eye, and was hostile toward the the police, according to a probable cause affidavit. Kugler admitted having five beers at the Iron Horse Bar & Grill in Front Branch approxi- mately two hours prior to the accident. A Field Sobriety Test was performed on Kugler and Kugler said he was blind in his right eye and had a rod in his left leg. Kugler said it would not affect the eye test on his left eye, but he could not per- form the walk and turn test due to the rod in his leg. Kugler failed both field tests and registered .163 for his blood alcohol content. Kugler refused a chemical test. While conducting a search of the Kugler's vehicle, police found multiple pills concealed in a black bag along with multiple medications with his name and various other people's names. Kugler was transferred to Pike County Jail and Police were informed that he was currently out on bond pending charges in Warrick County for residential entr y-breaking and entering a dwelling, criminal mischief, domestic batter y committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old, interference with reporting a crime and resisting law en- forcement with a motor vehi- cle on June 11, 2022. Kugler was additionally charged with Operating a Vehi- cle While Intoxicated With Pri- or, Legend Drug Possession, Possession of Schedule I, II, III or IV Controlled Substance, Leaving the Scene of a Personal Injury Accident, and Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated/En- dangering a Person for the inci- dent involving the Pike County Ambulance hit and run. A-2 Wednesday, July 6, 2022 The Press-Dispatch location. Police also searched the residence. McKinney said they called the Division of Child Ser- vices to the residence. "They came out and took it from there," said McKinney. According to court testi- mony there are seven chil- dren from 16 years old to 18 months old living in the res- idence. McKinney said they have received some tips from a social media post by the Pe- tersburg Police Department, which has received 411 com- ments and 994 shares as of early Tuesday. Anyone with information about Dana Moyes' where- abouts is asked to call the Sher- iff's Office at 812-354-6024. "We just need to locate her and get this case started," said Pike County Prosecutor Darin McDonald. McDonald said prior to last Wednesday's hearing the Sheriff's Department had issued a subpoena to her brother-in-law Jerr y and a Sheriff's Deputy had given him a ride to the courthouse. McDonald also said wit- nesses have said they saw Moyes in the courthouse during the hearing. In the hearing, four people testified. Stephanie Gilmour with the Division of Child Ser- vices said she had been to the Moyes residence on several occasions at three dif ferent addresses. In one incident, a small male child was found uncon- scious in the bathtub and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Gilmour said Moyes told them it might have been a seizure. That incident led to a safe- ty plan written by DCS that the brother-in-law was not supposed to be watching the children alone while they were in the tub. She said DCS has written more than 100 dif ferent safe- ty plans for Moyes' children. Other incidents included a small child getting out of the house and being in the yard and on the side of Blackburn Road for at least 10 minutes. This happened twice ac- cording to DCS. One time the child got out when the oldest daughter was clean- ing the bathroom and didn't want the child exposed to the cleaner fumes. Another time it was said a pet pig got out of the house and the child followed the pig. Another of the safety plans was that the oldest daughter was not supposed to be the children's caregiver. Another time Gilmour said a seven-year-old boy had thought he missed the bus, so he star ted walking to school from CR200E. She said the temperature outside was in single digits. A high school student drove by and saw the boy, stopped and gave him a ride to school. Otwell Miller Academy teach- er Heather McCandless also tes- tified during the hearing. McCandless had four of Moyes' children in her kin- dergar ten class. McDonald asked Mc- Candless if there were times she had concerns the chil- dren weren't being cared for properly . "Yes, all of them," said McCandless. She said the children were smar t and well-behaved. She said it seemed they weren't getting enough food. 'They were always hungr y and talked about how they didn't eat at home." She said when they were given food from Backpack Buddies, "They would al- most always overeat at school when we provide them food. They were all that way," said McCandless. McDonald also asked about their clothing. "Their clothes were all ei- ther too little or too big. My little guy would come in wear- ing shoes like a man's shoes. . . The little boy wore the same socks for two weeks. When I asked her (Dana) about it, she said, 'How did you know that?'" Because his pants were two inches too short," said McCandless. She said the children often smelled bad with a strong urine smell. On one occa- sion a girl's hair was matted down and they washed it at school. ."I got in trouble for that,' said McCandless. She said another child had washable marker on his face for two weeks. "It was ver y obvious they were got get- ting bathed." She also said Dana had never attended a par- ent-teacher conference in the five years she had the four dif ferent children. McDonald asked Mc- Candless if one of the chil- dren told her something serious happened to their grandpa. McCandless said one of Moyes boys told her his mother, Dana, told the chil- dren she had cut "Poppy's " throat and buried him in the yard. "He definitely made a throat slashing motion." She added the boy was a serious boy and didn't regu- larly make things up. McDonald, during the hearing, said police located "Poppy" and he was alive and well. Regina Foster with the DCS also testified. She said she had been to the Moyes residence about 10 times on "a full range of complaints." The first was to an investigation in 2017. In September of 2019, Fos- ter said it was on a case about a lost python, when they lived near the Alford School. McDonald asked about the size of the snake. "It was ver y large," said Foster. Foster said she also was in- volved in a case where one of the older children told them of abuse. "She disclosed she was afraid of her mom and that I would tell her what she (the girl) had said. She said, 'I don't care.' She was tired of seeing the other children be- ing hit by her mother." The girls said they were always being hit, sometimes with an open hand and other times with a fist and on other occasions being shoved into walls or grabbed by the hair. Foster said Dana denied any physical abuse "at that time." Foster said she inter- viewed four of the younger children individually in De- cember of 2021 and each said their mother would spank them for not doing what they were supposed to do. Foster said when they tried to talk to the children later the oldest daughter said "my brother isn't going to talk to you. . . Mom got to see what we said. Then when we got to go back home they beat him and he won't talk any more, Foster also said the chil- dren told DCS workers if they didn't cry after being spanked they would get candy. After the witnesses, Mc- Donald told the cour t he was not aware of the giant folder of files the DCS had "until three weeks ago." McDonald said there were a number of things that disturbed him about the situation. "Number one, the kids, including the oldest kids, testified if they cooperated with DCS they got hit and they have been told not to cooperate with DCS. "Ms. Gilmour said there were 100 safety plans. She said 'they are as wor thless as the paper they are on,'" said McDonald. McDonald cited the other incidents of a child being found unresponsive in the bathtub, the kids getting out on Black- burn Road, which has dozens of semi-trucks a day on it, and the child walking to school wearing only a light jacket in seven degree weather. He added when DCS would ask Moyes about these incidents she would tell them the oldest girl was responsible. "Mrs. Moyes is a risk to these children because she is incapable to take care of them," said McDonald. "The court is going to de- termine the children are at risk. Bail should be set at $200,000 and the defendant is to have no contact with the children," said Pike Circuit Court Judge Jeff Biester veld. As of T uesday mor n- ing police had not located Moyes. approximate cost of $193,000 and $85,000." "I'm concerned about our insurance premium," Byrd said. "The old paver was in- sured for $26,000, which we are not going to get the full amount due to aging, and it may not be worth claiming on insurance, if we are going to run into problems with our premiums going up because of the claim, like we saw with the ambulances." "We paid $26,000 for the last paving machine," Nelson said. "Ever yone will ask why we can't get another." "We bought it in an emer- gency," Byrd said. "You won't find a paver like that again. We got that seven years ago and you cannot find one for that price. We knew there was stuf f wrong with it. There has been tons of work done on it. We put thousands of dollars into that machine." Commissioners told Byrd there was a big difference in price between $193,000 and $85,000. Byrd said a new pav- ing machine runs between $600,000 to $700,000. The $193,000 machine was only three years old, with 3700 hours on it. Byrd has not had a chance to look at the $83,000 paving machine goes, but is tr ying to schedule a time for next week. "It's at least worth putting eyes on," Byrd said. "It's still out on a job, working." Commissioners agreed that the county needs a good paving machine, and a deci- sion will be made after Byrd assesses the $85,000 paving machine. If it is in acceptable condition, they want Byrd to proceed with the purchase. If the $85,000 paving machine is not in acceptable condi- tion, they gave the go-ahead to proceed with acquiring the $193,000 paver subject to ap- propriation of necessar y funds by the Pike County Council. MOYES Continued from page 1 FIRE Continued from page 1 PIKE Continued from page 1 Pike County paving machine catches fire The paving machine caught fire one evening after an oil line ruptured, spewing oil on the hot engine. Petersburg Streetscape project progressing Mark Hauschild of JBI Construction sets a form for a sidewalk along Main St. Petersburg as part of the Streetscape project. It is being completed right behind the new water main project on Main St. Both started on lower Main St. and are pro- ceeding north. The water line project is running new water ser vice lines through the sidewalks to water customers on both sides of Main St. The Streetscape project is installing new sidewalks, curbs and light poles just be- hind the waterline project.