Traffic stop results in OWI felonies
Police stopped a truck for driving without headlights on Nov. 23 and arrested the driver for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Nashville Police Patrolman Billy Bryant conducted the stop on a truck driven by 58-year-old Drew Miller, of Brown County, after Bryant reported seeing the truck exit the CVS parking lot and turn on to Van Buren Street, a probable cause affidavit states.
While speaking with Miller, Bryant reported smelling alcohol on Miller, that his speech was slurred and his eyes were watery/glassy, the affidavit states.
Miller tried to exit the vehicle as Bryant approached it and the officer had to ask him to stay in the vehicle. Miller told Bryant he was only a block away from his home and he had went to CVS to get food.
Miller had a driver’s license with only specialized driving privileges.
He failed three field sobriety tests. Miller then refused to submit to a preliminary breath test and said he did not want to go to jail, according to the affidavit.
Miller admitted to drinking several shots of whiskey throughout the day. Miller then consented for a chemical breath test to be administered at the Brown County Law Enforcement Center. That test showed Miller’s blood alcohol content to be 0.15, which is nearly twice the legal limit.
He was booked into the Brown County jail.
On Nov. 24 Miller was formally charged with operating a vehicle with an ACE of 0.15 or more and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, both Level 6 felonies. He was also charged with violation of driving conditions, a Class C misdemeanor.
Miller’s OWI charges were elevated to felonies due to him previously being convicted of OWI in 2019 and 2021.
Man arrested after fleeing police
A Freetown man was arrested on felony charges after fleeing police in August.
Brown County Sheriff’s deputies Austin Schonfeld and William Pool were parked in a parking lot on Aug. 23 observing a home on State Road 135 North.
Schonfeld reported in a probable cause affidavit that a vehicle pulled into the driveway on Aug. 23 and was there for 30 seconds to one minute before leaving.
After the vehicle left the home, officers followed and attempted a traffic stop at the intersection of 135 North and Railroad Road. The vehicle did not stop and continued northbound on 135 North.
Deputies pursued the vehicle into Johnson County, along with units from Trafalgar Police Department, Morgantown Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.
The vehicle turned left into a soybean field then exited back onto a nearby road. Speeds ranged from 70 to 110 miles per hour, according to the affidavit.
The vehicle was located in a corn field in Johnson County with the driver and passenger doors open. After searching in the field and in the woods, officers did not find any individuals. They did find drug paraphernalia in the vehicle and evidence in the woods.
A cell phone found in the vehicle belonged to Micah Bowling, 47, Freetown.
On Aug. 24, officers located Bowling at a Hoover Road home.
Police also spoke with a person who said they had purchased the vehicle found in the corn field from Bowling, but the transfer of ownership was never made and Bowling never returned the vehicle after he let him borrow it.
As they pulled into the driveway on Hoover Road, officers said that Bowling was sitting outside speaking to someone. According to the affidavit, he ran into the woods when he noticed the officers’ vehicles.
Pool found Bowling in a creek beside a tree. He told police he ran because he was out on bond.
Bowling was transported to the Brown County jail and was charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors: Resisting law enforcement, Level 6 felony; institutional criminal mischief, Level 6 felony; driving while suspended, Class A misdemeanor; possession of paraphernalia, Class C misdemeanor; and resisting law enforcement, Class A misdemeanor.
Felony OWI charges filed after traffic stop
A traffic stop for driving without a license resulted in two felony charges for a Brown County woman for driving while intoxicated in September.
Nashville Police Patrolman Billy Bryant conducted a stop on a vehicle driven by 41-year-old Mandy Smith after he ran her vehicle’s registration and discovered Smith did not have an active driver’s license, the probable cause affidavit states.
During the stop on West Washington Street, Bryant noted that Smith’s hands were trembling and she was argumentative with officers. While Bryant was finishing his citation for operating without a valid driver’s license, Patrolman Davis Huynh reported smelling alcohol on Smith.
Smith told Huynh she had an unopened alcohol beverage inside a cooler in the vehicle, the affidavit states.
Smith also told police she had two alcohol beverages after work and before eating. She consented to three field tests, according to the affidavit.
A portable breath test showed her blood alcohol content to be 0.11. She was then transported to the Brown County jail to take a certified breath test, which also showed the same BAC.
She was then arrested. She was formally charged with two Level 6 felonies for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Her misdemeanor charges for operating a vehicle while intoxicated were increased to felonies due to prior OWI convictions in 2014 and 2020.
