Ruel Pedigo III, 50, a Columbus tow truck driver accused of rear-ending a vehicle while under the influence of methamphetamine and causing the death of a Brown County man, was found guilty of three felonies following the announcement of the jury verdict.
The case was given to the jury at 9:51 a.m. today after closing arguments from the prosecution and defense.
The jury trial began Tuesday in Bartholomew Circuit Court.
Pedigo’s sentencing was set for 9 a.m. July 12. Judge Kelly Benjamin allowed Pedigo to remain free on bond until his sentencing.
Pedigo was convicted of operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in the blood, a Level 4 felony, the most serious among charges he faces; reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony; and causing serious bodily injury when operating a motor vehicle with a controlled substance in the blood, a Level 6 felony.
The charges stemmed from a multi-vehicle accident at 7:40 p.m. Jan. 27 on Jonathan Moore Pike near Johnson Boulevard. The accident happened in the eastbound lanes, involving as many as six vehicles.
Investigators said Pedigo was driving a Ford F650 tow truck with a vehicle on the flatbed when he rear-ended a Mazda 3 car. The Mazda driver, Patrick N. Bowman, 35, of Brown County, died. Bowman, who was originally from Columbus, graduated from Columbus North High School in 2001.
The crash also seriously injured Bowman’s passenger, Sarah Fliehman, 25, also of Brown County. She suffered a head injury.
A number of collisions occurred among vehicles in front of the Mazda after the tow truck it hit, accident reconstructionists said in court documents.
Pedigo told investigators he had just exited I-65 South and was heading east on Jonathan Moore Pike when an unidentified small black car changed from the left turn lane to Pedigo’s lane. Pedigo told police he tried to brake, but slid, causing the accident, court documents state.
Pedigo told police he was going 25 to 30 mph when he hit the Mazda. However, when investigators downloaded the airbag diagnostic sensing module in the tow truck, the data showed he was traveling between 37 and 40 mph in the seconds leading up to the crash and that he did not apply the brakes until about 1 second prior to impact with the Mazda, court documents state.
A toxicology report showed Pedigo had methamphetamine and amphetamine, a metabolite of methamphetamine, in his blood when the accident occurred.
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