Crash into deputy’s patrol vehicle leads to drug arrest

A Columbus man has been arrested after he drove into a sheriff’s department vehicle Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Deputy J.D. Myers was in his patrol vehicle stopped at the intersection of 10th Street and Whitfield Drive, when he was rear-ended at about 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

There was no damage to either vehicle and no one was injured. The other driver told the deputy that his foot slipped off the brake, causing the collision. But while filling out paperwork about the crash, the deputy noticed the man throw a plastic baggie under his vehicle.

When confronted, the man denied having any knowledge of the bag. A test of the contents revealed fentanyl and the driver, identified as 69-year-old David Caldwell was taken into custody.

A search of his vehicle recovered a pipe for smoking narcotics as well as a firearm. Police also discovered he was carrying drugs on him.

Caldwell was arrested on preliminary charges for possessing drug paraphernalia and narcotics while also in possession of a firearm.