COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies transported an individual believed to be high on methamphetamine to the hospital after a witness reported he was acting “crazy” around a vehicle near the Red Roof Inn and Kentucky Fried Chicken in Taylorsville.
Sheriff Matt Myers said the department was sent to an area near the restaurant at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday about a suspicious male jumping around a maroon car, possibly brandishing some sort of handgun.
At one point, the witness said the individual, believed to be in his 30s, took what was believed to be a gun behind the restaurant, dropped it, and then picked it back up and went back to the car.
When deputies arrived, they found him in the maroon car, Myers said. The man, who identified himself as being from Columbus, told deputies he had just finished a 28-day rehab sting but had relapsed and used methamphetamine, and then had not slept in four days, Myers said.
Deputies found suboxone, a drug used by those attempting to maintain their recovery from drug addiction, in the vehicle.
Officers determined the gun that the individual was brandishing was actually a pellet or paint gun, not a weapon that would shoot bullets.
The individual, who was not injured, was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, Myers said.
For more on this story, and the crisis intervention tactics used in this incident by deputies, see Wednesday’s Republic.
