The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/641328
A-4 Local Wednesday, Februar y 17, 2016 The Press-Dispatch <28¶5(,19,7(' 3OHDVHMRLQXVIRUDQ 23(1+286( )22'7$67,1* )HEUXDU\ WRSP 'D\VRQ+HDUW&HQWHU *LEDXOW0HPRULDO7RZHU ,QFHOHEUDWLRQRI$PHULFDQ+HDUW0RQWKZHZRXOGOLNHWRLQYLWH \RXWRWDNHDQLQVLGHORRNDW*RRG6DPDULWDQ¶V'D\VRQ+HDUW &HQWHU2XURSHQKRXVHZLOOLQFOXGH $PHHWDQGJUHHWZLWKRXUFDUGLRORJLVWV 7RXUVRIWKHFDUGLRORJ\FOLQLFFDWKODEDQGFDUGLDFUHKDE $WDVWLQJRIKHDUWKHDOWK\DSSHWL]HUVZLWKUHFLSHFDUGVDYDLODEOH )UHHJLYHDZD\V MORTON BUILDING, INC. WINTER WORK SALE! Savings through the month of February! Open House Event Feb. 20-21st. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. 812-482-3723 One mile North of Jasper on Hwy. 231 www.mortonbuildings.com free concrete column upgrades Don't Miss These Savings Open House Event - Feb. 19 & 20 Ask about concrete column upgrades! Brames arrested on disorderly conduct and public intox. charges after fight By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man was arrested Monday afternoon when his neighbor reported he had been beaten up. Joshua Alan Brames, 30, of 203 S. Fourth St., Peters- burg, was arrested on charg- es of disorderly conduct and public intoxication by Pe- tersburg Police Cpl. Scott Wright. Cpl. Wright said he was dispatched to Sycamore Apts., where a neighbor of Brames was concerned about him. Wright said af- ter investigating the inci- dent, he found Brames be- gan consuming a large quan- tity of alcohol. He then de- cided to walk to Tyler and Taylor Pride's residence and confront them about problems with his girlfriend he thought they were caus- ing. They got into an argu- ment and Brames was told to leave. Cpl. Wright's report states Brames left, went back to his residence and got a set of "brass knuckles" and re- turned to the Prides' resi- dence. While standing in their front door threshold, he got into an argument with the Pride brothers again. He then displayed the brass knuckles and threatened the Prides. Tyler Pride, according to Cpl. Wright, immediate- ly punched Brames in the mouth, causing Brames to fall backwards off the steps. Brames then left and re- turned to Sycamore Apts. Cpl. Wright said Taylor Pride flagged him down as he drove towards Sycamore Apts. and asked if he had heard about the altercation with Brames. He then told Cpl. Wright about it. Wright then continued to Sycamore Apts., where he found Brames and "brass knuckles" in Brames' coat pocket. Brames told Cpl. Wright about the story and said he had purchased a half- gallon of alcohol and drank enough to be intoxicated. He was taken into custody and transported to the Pike County Jail, where he was preliminarily charged with public intoxication and dis- orderly conduct. Adams arrested on drug and OVWI charges after visiting jail By Andy Heuring A woman was arrested for drunken driving after she visited the Pike County Jail and appeared to be intoxi- cated. She was one of three people arrested for drunken driving in Pike County last week. At about 6:18 p.m. on Val- entine's Day, Pike County Deputy Paul Collier was no- tified of a woman in the jail's visitor's lobby who appeared to be intoxicated. Deputy Collier said as she drove away from the jail parking lot, he followed her and saw her make a turn from Main St. onto Fourth St. without using a turn sig- nal. Deputy Collier stopped the vehicle at the Mi Patio restaurant parking lot and discovered the driver to be Melinda S. Adams, 57, of 807 E. Beardsley St., Win- slow. When he talked with her, he noticed she had poor manual dexterity and slurred speech. She failed field sobriety tests. Adams tested positive for benzodi- azepines, amphetamines, methamphetamine and mar- ijuana, and was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. Deputy Collier in his re- port stated he found a plas- tic bag containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana. She was ar- rested at about 6:30 p.m. and preliminarily charged with possession of marijua- na, and operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II con- trolled substance. CANNON CHARGED WITH OVWI (REFUSAL) On Saturday night, Pike County Deputy Sheriff Buck Seger said he saw a Dodge truck on CR 550 N. with the license plate improperly dis- played, so he turned around to stop the vehicle. Accord- ing to Deputy Seger's re- port, while he was turning around, the vehicle turned abruptly into Lake Minnis Court and he was unable to locate it. However, Deputy Seger said a few minutes later, he located it on CR 200 E. Seger said when the truck turned from CR 200 E. onto CR 550, it made a wide turn and went into the oncoming lane of travel. A fter stopping the vehicle, Deputy Seger said he talk- ed with the driver, Thomas Tyler Cannon, 27, of 908 N. Liberty St., Petersburg, and noticed he was "highly ner- vous, and his arm and hands were twitching." He said Cannon failed two of three field sobriety tests and refused to take a chemi- cal test, which is an automat- ic offense. Cannon was taken into custody on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (refusal). HELSLEY ARRESTED ON OVWI CHARGE Early Saturday morn- ing, an Oakland City wom- an was arrested for drunken driving after police saw her driving left of center. Christine K. Helsley, 44, of 218 Vine St., Oak- land City, was arrested on a charge of operating a vehi- cle while intoxicated, with a prior conviction in the last five years. Helsley was stopped by Deputy Buck Seger, who said while driving south on Highway 61 at about 2:45 a.m. Saturday, he saw Hels- ley drive left of center into the oncoming lane of travel three times between Union St. in Winslow and the rail- road tracks south of Win- slow. Deputy Seger's report stated when he talked with her, he smelled the strong odor of alcohol, and she had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. He said she admit- ted having four or five alco- holic drinks at the Bob Inn. She failed the field sobri- ety tests and was transport- ed to the Pike County Jail, where she tested 0.14 per- cent for blood alcohol con- tent. FATALITY Continued from page 1 Petersburg Police Cpl. Jared Simmons talks to Brian L. Paquette, 48, of Dugger, who was trapped in the Chevrolet Tahoe. Paquette drove the wrong way on I-69 crashing head-on into two other vehicles, killing three people, on Friday night just north of Petersburg. Paquette was later extricated from the crash. On Tuesday, 12 felony charges were filed against him. Fishers accountant, Jason Lowe, 44, was killed when his GMC Terrain was hit head-on by a Chevrolet Tahoe being driven the wrong way on I-69 Friday night. His wife Samantha Lowe, 46, was also injured in the crash. there was a vehicle driving north in the southbound lanes of I-69. Manning said he drove north trying to locate the wrong-way driver. Trooper Manning said Pike Coun- ty's central dispatch told him they were getting 911 calls and that it was last seen near the 44-mile marker, still northbound. Trooper Manning said he saw the vehicle's taillights in the southbound lane at about the 48.5 mile marker and it was meeting several southbound vehicles. Man- ning said he caught up to the truck near the 49.5 mile marker and the vehicle be- gan to slow down, but was still going north in the south- bound lanes. According to the affidavit, Manning put his spotlight on the truck and went into the median to try to get the driv- er's attention and to pull him over. But instead of stopping, the Chevrolet Tahoe drove across the median "direct- ly in front of me" and start- ed going south in the north- bound lanes in the passing lane. Manning then crossed over to the southbound lanes and continued to pursue the vehicle with his lights and si- ren on, but instead of stop- ping, the SUV accelerated "at a high rate of speed." He again tried to use his spotlight to get the driver's attention. Manning stated, in the af- fidavit, he radioed the oth- er officers that it appeared the driver was trying to flee and told the officers to set up "stop sticks." Shortly after this, Troop- er Manning said he saw a group of vehicles traveling north in both northbound lanes. The Tahoe crashed head-on into a Ford Focus in the passing lane and then crashed into the GMC Ter- rain. The crash occurred at about the 49.5 -mile mark- er, which Manning said was about two miles from where Paquette made a U-turn. Manning informed central dispatch of the crash and re- quested emergency respond- ers. He then ran to check on the Ford Focus, which was driven by Stephanie Moli- net, 22, of Elberfeld. He said she was still alive, but be- cause of the airbags being deployed, he couldn't see in- to the car. He then ran to the SUV driven by Paquette and found him alive, but trapped in the vehicle. He returned to the Ford Focus to check on Molinet. He was then told by people who stopped at the scene to help the other vehicle, a black GMC Terrain, about 80 -yards away, that the driv- er appeared to be dead and the passenger was sitting on the ground outside the vehicle. He later learned there was a deceased passenger in the Ford Focus, identified as Autumn Kapperman, 21, of Boonville. She was five months pregnant. They were driving to Bloomington to pick up Kapperman's sister and new baby. Manning said they also later learned Jason C. Lowe, 44, of Fishers, was the driv- er of the Terrain. His wife, Samantha Lowe, 46, was the passenger who was in- jured. Lowe was an accoun- tant and they had driven to Evansville to visit a friend in the hospital and were re- turning home. Molinet was extricated from the Ford Focus and taken to the hospital, where she later died of her injuries. In the meantime, Peters- burg Officer Simmons ar- rived on scene and stayed with Paquette while Man- ning checked on the other victims. According to the affidavit, officers broke the driver's side window of Paquette's Tahoe so they could talk to him. Manning said Paquette told police he was fine other than his arm was hurt and his feet were trapped. Manning said Officer Simmons stayed with Pa- quette and while there, Pa- quette told him he had smoked methamphetamine at a party in Oakland City. According to the affida- vit, Paquette said he didn't stop for Trooper Manning because "he thought he was being chased by farmers in a field." A police report filed by Trooper Alexander Welsh stated Trooper Welsh ar- rived at the scene to help with the investigation and then went to the hospital, where Paquette had been taken. He said the nurse attending Paquette said he made the statements "I thought it would be safe to do meth one time after 10 years," and "It's amazing how one hour and one mis- take can ruin your life" to her. Trooper Welsh said dur- ing an inventory of Pa- quette's belongings, the nurse located a one dollar bill folded differently than the other bills. Welsh said when he checked it, he found a white powder inside the folded- up bill and the powder field- tested positive for metham- phetamine.