Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating an off-road vehicle (ORV) accident that occurred this afternoon in the town of Nineveh, located in northern Brown County.

This afternoon at approximately 4:00 p.m., first responders were dispatched to the 8700 block of Nineveh Road in reference to an accident involving an ORV.

Witnesses to the accident stated they observed the ORV traveling down the roadway, 

before losing control, veering off the road and striking a barn structure.

The operator, Christopher Oder, 38, of Indianapolis was Lifelined to IU Health Methodist in Indianapolis with head trauma.  

He is currently listed in critical, but stable condition.  He was not wearing protective equipment at the time of the incident.  Alcohol is believed to have played a factor. 

The incident continues to be under investigation by the Indiana Conservation Officers.

Yesterday afternoon, a Salem man was arrested for multiple drug charges after being reported as exhibiting suspicious behavior around the Dollar General Store. 

Stephen Jonas, 35, from Teresa Street in Salem, was charged with Dealing in Cocaine, Dealing in Heroin, Dealing in Methamphetamine, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Heroin, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Syringe, Possession of a Legend Drug and Possession of Paraphernalia.

Indiana State Police troopers Zach Smith and Brett Walters were flagged down by a 

citizen and advised of two suspicious male subjects at the Dollar General Store in Salem.

When the troopers responded they began to investigate and after surveilling the parking lot they noticed a male subject, later identified as Jonas, go around the store to the rear of the building.

Troopers made contact with him and later discovered controlled substance, needles and paraphernalia in the area where he was located.

Jonas was placed under arrest and during the impounding of the vehicle he was in possession of, troopers located multiple baggies and needles.

He was incarcerated at the Washington County Jail awaiting his first court appearance. This investigation is continuing.

A 45-year-old Salem man was arrested on Thursday after a seven hour standoff with police at a residence on Franklin School Road.

Allen Scott Whitt, 45, Salem, 742 Franklin School Road was arrested and booked into the Washington County Detention Center on a charge of criminal confinement, armed with a deadly weapon, resulting in serious bodily injury to a person. 

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 from Whitt’s girlfriend at 4:20a that she had locked herself in a bedroom to get away from her husband. 

Policed responded to the residence immediately and upon arrival, the woman crawled out of a window and escaped the home. 

Whitt refused to leave the home. Salem Police Department officers assisted with maintaining a perimeter around the home. 

Indiana State Police were called and responded with an Emergency Response Team. 

Whitt would not come out of the house and an armored vehicle breached the front door, allowing the ERT to enter and secure Whitt. 

The incident, which is still under investigation, ended with his arrest about 11a.

What started as a call from a concerned motorist on the Indiana Toll Road ultimately led to the arrest of a Chicago woman for operating while intoxicated and more. 

On August 10th at approximately 9:40 p.m. troopers on the Indiana Toll Road received a call from a concerned motorist about a Pontiac minivan that was driving erratically on the Indiana Toll Road in St. Joseph County.

A short time later Trooper Matthew Drudge located this van and subsequently stopped it for several traffic violations eastbound at the 75 mile marker.  This is located two miles west of the South Bend/Notre Dame exit.

While talking with the driver, Porche Sanders, age 35 of Chicago, IL, Trooper Drudge began to suspect that Sanders may be intoxicated and he also noticed three children in the back of the van without child seats or seatbelts on. 

Following an investigation for operating while intoxicated, Sanders was ultimately arrested on preliminary charges of: Operating While Intoxicated Endangerment, A-Misdemeanor, Operating While Intoxicated, C-Misdemeanor, and Possession of a Controlled Substance, A-Misdemeanor. Sanders was then transported to the St. Joseph County Jail.