An October trial date has been set for a local tow truck driver accused of rear-ending a vehicle on Jonathan Moore Pike, causing a death.
Ruel P. Pedigo III, 49, of 1085 Jonesville Road, is scheduled for a jury trial at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 30 in Bartholomew Circuit Court on three felony charges related to the January accident, court records state.
An initial hearing for Pedigo, a change-of-plea hearing date was set for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 1.
Pedigo is accused 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.
Causing serious bodily injury when operating a motor vehicle with a controlled substance in the blood, a Level 6 felony.
The charges stem from a multi-vehicle accident at 7:40 p.m. Jan. 27 on Jonathan Moore Pike near Johnson Boulevard, court documents state. 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 flat-bed which rear-ended a Mazda 3 passenger car, resulting in the death of the Mazda driver, Patrick N. Bowman, 35, of Brown County.
Bowman, who was originally from Columbus, graduated from Columbus North High School in 2001.
The crash also caused serious injury to Bowman’s passenger, Sarah Fliehman, 25, also of Brown County, who suffered a head injury in the collision.
A number of collisions occurred among vehicles in front of the Mazda after the tow truck it hit, accident reconstructionists said in court documents.
After the accident, Pedigo said he had just exited I-65 South and was heading east on Jonathan Moore Pike in the far left non-turn lane, when an unidentified small black car changed from the left turn lane to Pedigo’s lane, court douments state.
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, court documents state. 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 Pedigo 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, court documents. Pedigo consented to the blood test, which was done at Columbus Regional Hospital.
