A Culver man was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence, causing injury to a woman.
Devin Richard Gast, 36, Culver, is charged with causing serious bodily injury while operating a vehicle, a level 5 felony; and resisting law enforcement, a level 5 felony.
He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 6:18 p.m. Sunday on a $16,000 preliminary bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on June 3 a Winona Lake Police Department officer was driving a marked police vehicle on patrol when he saw a westbound maroon Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on Packerton Road driving at a high rate of speed. The officer used his speed radar and clocked the vehicle driving 62 miles per hour in a 40 mph speed zone.
The officer activated his red and blue lights and attempted to catch up to the vehicle and conduct a traffic stop. The officer caught up with the vehicle in the area of Lakeland Christian Academy on CR 250S.
The vehicle began to slow down on Sunset Drive due to traffic slowing down when the vehicle began passing traffic near Robby Drive. The Silverado accelerated, driving left of center and entered the intersection of Wooster Road and CR 250S, proceeding through the intersection. The officer estimated the speed of the Silverado at 50 to 60 mph.
As the Silverado entered the intersection, it hit the passenger sie of a black Chevrolet Malibu passenger that was proceeding through the intersection, causing the Chevrolet to spin 270 degrees. The Chevrolet was pushed about 100 feet into a stopped southbound white Ford Edge, nearly missing a southbound black Nissan Murano. The Silverado then spun 90 degrees and nearly rolled when it struck a concrete block retaining wall on the north east side of the intersection.
The officer approached the Silverado and ordered the driver to show his hands. The driver, later identified as Gast, complied. The officer approached the driver’s side door and was able to open the door slightly, despite structural damage to the door. The officer asked Gast why he did that and Gast said he was trying to find a way to go to jail.
Gas suffered a head injury, but also appeared to be impaired, according to court documents. Gast told the officer he had just a few drinks. Gast agreed to submit to a portable breath test, which gave a positive result for ethanol at 0.088% BrAC. Gast agreed to take a chemical test. The results showed Gast had .129 grams of alcohol per 1000 mL of his blood at the time he drove and crashed his vehicle.
The driver of the Malibu suffered a broken sternum and a broken bone in his back. The driver was transported to the Parkview Trauma Center in Fort Wayne.