Leesburg Man Facing Charges After Injuring Motorcyclist
Posted
Amanda Bridgman-
The Leesburg man charged with driving drunk and injuring a motorcyclist in June will have an initial hearing Thursday in Kosciusko Superior Court III.
David E. Watts, 50, of 205 W. Van Buren St., Leesburg, was arrested June 18 after police responded to the intersection of Ind. 15 and Van Buren Street in Leesburg.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed Nov. 12 in Superior Court III, upon arrival to the crash scene police spoke with Watts, who was driving a 2011 black Chrysler 200. Police determined Watts failed to yield the right-of-way when he turned his car into the path of a northbound Harley-Davidson, operated by Joshua Parker, 32, Syracuse.
The motorcycle struck the front passenger side corner of the Chrysler, according to police, resulting in Parker being airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend by Parkview Samaritan Air Ambulance.
Parker suffered injuries of two broken wrists, a fractured pelvis, a large cut to his right leg, liver damage and a concussion and has had to undergo two surgeries to mend his injuries, according to the affidavit.
At the scene, police smelled alcohol on Watts and asked him to perform field sobriety tests, but Watts said he was unable because he has arthritis in his knees. Watts was then taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital for a blood draw, and the results of that test showed Watts’ BAC was 0.17%, according to the affidavit.
Watts told police at the time he never saw the motorcycle coming and that he was returning from work in Goshen.
As police were preparing to take Watts to jail, a search of Watts revealed a Centrum vitamin bottle that contained 8.46 grams of marijuana.
Watts is charged with a Level 5 felony for causing serious bodily injury while operating a vehicle and a Class B misdemeanor for possession of marijuana. He’s due in court at 1 p.m. Thursday.
