Man accidentally shot himself at home

CORDRY-SWEETWATER — An Indianapolis man accidentally discharged his own firearm in June while working at a Cordry-Sweetwater home, wounding himself in the leg, according to a police report.

Brown County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Colton Magner was driving on Sunset Drive approaching Sweetwater Beach when he received a dispatch that a man had been shot in an accident. Magner found 65-year-old John V. Altman in the driver seat of a red pickup and a woman on the phone.

Magner began assessing Altman as beach staff brought a first aid kit. Altman told the officer that he was trying to put his firearm back in his bellyband-style holster with his off hand when he accidentally discharged the firearm.

A beach staff member applied pressure to the two visible wounds. Magner assisted in first aid, as a “large amount of blood was actively being lost,” the report said.

The gun was in the truck’s passenger seat and Magner secured it in his vehicle.

Altman said he was working at a home on Raccoon Drive when the incident occurred. He walked around the driveway, but his cellphone would not make an outgoing call to 911, so he drove to the beach for help.

A Lifeline helicopter was called to him to a hospital.

Greensburg woman injured in crash

VAN BUREN TWP. — A 50-year-old Greensburg woman was taken to a hospital after a two-vehicle crash on Becks Grove Road July 12.

Police and EMS responded to the crash near Green Acres Road around 4 p.m., according to an accident report by Sgt. Chad Williams with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.

Angela Taylor told police she was driving west on Becks Grove when she entered a curve and noticed a vehicle in the middle of the road coming toward her. Taylor said she moved over to the right as far as she could, but fresh gravel on the side of the road caused her to lose control and go back on the road where the two vehicles struck each other, the report states.

Noah Johnson, 25, of Indianapolis, was driving east pulling a fully loaded flatbed trailer and was unfamiliar with the roads, the report states. Johnson said he noticed Taylor’s vehicle as he was coming around the curve and tried to move further right, but was unable to avoid hitting Taylor’s vehicle.

Williams reported that according to the position of the trailer, it appeared Johnson was driving left of center.

Taylor was taken to a hospital for an injury to her hip and upper leg. She was not wearing a seat belt. Her vehicle was towed.

Johnson was not injured. His front seat passenger, 25-year-old Jonah Brough, was treated at the scene for a shoulder and upper arm injury. Both men were wearing seat belts. Johnson’s vehicle also was towed.

Expired plate results in misdemeanors

A traffic stop for expired license plates on June 5 resulted in a 35-year-old Avon man being charged with multiple misdemeanors for possession of drugs and paraphernalia.

Nashville Police Officer Cody Poynter stopped Matthew Schober on Coffey Hill Road after he ran the license plates and discovered they were expired, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Schober said he knew his plates were expired. Poynter reported smelling alcohol and marijuana while speaking with him.

A portable breath test showed his blood-alcohol content to be 0.07, just under the legal limit of 0.08. Poynter requested a wrecker due to the expired plates and had Schober call a ride.

While inventorying the vehicle prior to the tow, Poynter and Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld reported finding a smoking pipe, multiple bags with marijuana residue inside, a baggie with a grain-like substance and a red power that appeared to be a crushed pill, according to the affidavit. Schober said the grain-like substance and red power were both “molly,” or a stimulant drug that is a Schedule I narcotic.

Schober was charged on June 11 with possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

Police: Woman gave man nosebleed

BEAN BLOSSOM — A 22-year-old Brown County woman has been charged with two misdemeanors after police responded to her home and found evidence she had hit a man in the face, giving him a bloody nose.

Jade (Johnson) Romans was charged on June 25 with domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, Class B misdemeanor.

Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Minor and other officers responded to the home in the 100 block of State Road 45 on June 25. Minor found the victim sitting on the ground outside speaking with another officer. The victim had fresh dried blood on his nose and blood on his shirt and hands, the probable cause affidavit states.

The man said that he and Romans had had a few margaritas. Romans thought the victim had called her fat, which upset her the rest of the evening, the affidavit states.

Romans left to take someone else home and the victim went to bed after locking the door, since Romans had a key. She accused him of locking her out. The victim asked her to leave if she was going to continue arguing, or he would leave, according to the affidavit.

Romans then reportedly began throwing the man’s clothes out of a closet. When he walked toward her, she punched him in the face and continued to walk toward him after he began bleeding. The victim said he never touched Romans, the affidavit states.

Both Romans and the victim refused medical attention.

Romans told police she left the home to get away from him, came back to talk to him and then left again. She thought she was locked out. She said he shoved her, so she punched him, according to the affidavit. She reported that the victim had grabbed her by the neck and thrown her across the room, but EMS could not find marks indicating she had been grabbed. She did have dried blood on her that did not belong to her, the affidavit states.

The victim denied touching Romans when asked again by police and said he kept his hands in the air after she punched him.

Romans was arrested and taken to the Brown County jail.

Battery charges filed against man

HAMBLEN TWP. — A 31-year-old Bloomington man faces a domestic battery charge after he reportedly struck a woman on the side of her head as she tried to keep him from taking her vehicle.

On July 4, Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholson Briles and Det. Paul Henderson responded to a home on Three Notch Road for a report of a physical domestic dispute. Briles reported finding Timothy White in a nearby driveway. He was placed in handcuffs, according to a probable cause affidavit.

White said he had recently become homeless. He said that he and the woman had gone to Morgantown to get some belongings before heading back to Three Notch Road where a relative lived. When they arrived at the home, they began arguing.

White told police they had stepped in front of the vehicle and that he reached into the vehicle to turn it off. When he did this, the woman grabbed at him to stop and he tried to defend himself by swinging his arm around, the affidavit states. When he did this, he elbowed the victim in the head.

The victim said the two were arguing after getting White’s belongings in Morgantown and that when they arrived at the home on Three Notch, he refused to get out of the vehicle. He eventually exited, and the situation had deescalated until she asked him to get his belongings out, which upset White again, the affidavit states.

She told police she saw White trying to get into the driver’s seat and that he had taken her vehicle before, so she grabbed him around the waist to try to pull him away. White walked away and while doing so, part of his arm came back to strike her in the side of her head, according to the affidavit.

White was arrested and taken to the Brown County jail. He was charged with a Class A misdemeanor on July 6.