Take precautions when planning a bonfire
A lack of measurable rain over the last month has led to dry conditions across much of the state. While Brown County does not have a burn ban currently in effect, local public safety officials are urging residents and visitors to practice safe burning practices.
Make sure any bonfires are in a fire ring or you have other means of keeping it contained and all surrounding brush or leaves are cleared away.
Make sure if you do have a bonfire, you have a water source nearby.
Consider holding off on having any large controlled burns or agricultural burns until weather conditions improve.
Brown County State Park is currently at a moderate risk fire danger level and is asking that visitors be aware of their surroundings while enjoying the park.
With questions about open burn regulations in Brown County, email ema@ browncounty-in.us.
Police: Woman hit man, grabbed key from car
Police say a Seymour woman hit a man while she was riding in a car with him, and when the driver stopped to let her out in Nashville, she grabbed the keys and ran.
On Sept. 27, Nashville Police Officer Keith Lawson responded to the Brown County Visitors Center to take a report. The woman said while she was driving back from Bloomington, Sirena Fowler, 43, jerked the steering wheel.
Officers found Fowler outside the Nashville General Store on Washington Street arguing with the man who’d been in the car. He told police that Fowler had been hitting him, that she took the keys from the ignition and then threw the keys into a nearby tree line, according to the affidavit. Officer Dan Klaker helped Fowler find the keys.
Lawson reported seeing an upset child in the backseat of the car. The driver told him that when she’d told Fowler she was dropping her off in Nashville after she jerked the steering wheel, Fowler turned around and hit the man who had been sitting in the backseat with the child, the affidavit states. The driver said she had to restrain Fowler because she would not stop. She said as soon as she stopped in the parking lot, Fowler grabbed the keys from the ignition and took off running.
Fowler was arrested. Lawson reported that she smelled of alcohol, and a portable breath test showed her blood-alcohol content at 0.14, almost twice the legal limit.
On Sept. 30 she was charged with domestic battery, a Level 6 felony since it occurred in front a child; conversion, a Class A misdemeanor; and criminal recklessness, a Class B misdemeanor.
Stop for speeding ends in arrest for possessing drugs
An Indianapolis man was arrested in Brown County on drug possession charges after police stopped him for driving 20 MPH over the speed limit on State Road 46.
Nashville Police Officer Cody Poynter stopped 26-year-old Braxton Beikman on Sept. 17 after he was clocked driving 70 MPH in a 50 MPH zone, according to a probable cause affidavit. Beikman told Poynter his speedometer was broken and he didn’t know he was driving that fast. Beikman had only an identification card and told police his license was suspended, the affidavit states.
Beikman exited the vehicle so that police could inventory it before it was towed. While he was exiting, Beikman reached inside the center console to grab a pink paper with a bottle wrapped inside. Beikman told police that the pill bottle had his old neighbor’s Suboxone inside. Beikman was then placed under arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
While searching Beikman, Poynter retrieved his wallet and found a small baggie with a white substance inside. After being read his rights, Beikman told Poynter that the substance was heroin, the police report said.
He was taken to the Brown County jail. On Sept. 30, he was charged with possession of a narcotic drug, Level 6 felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; and driving while suspended, a Class A misdemeanor.
