Columbus police arrested a local driver after his vehicle struck a pole in the parking lot of a Columbus apartment complex with a small child in the vehicle.
Officers were sent to the 3500 block of Cardinal Court at 8 a.m. Tuesday about the accident and learned there was a small child inside the damaged vehicle, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Initially, officers had difficulty waking the driver who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown intoxicant, Harris said. The driver was later identified as Phillip S. Menefee, 40, Columbus, Harris said. After Menefee failed several field sobriety tests, he was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for a blood draw, Harris said.
Menefee’s child, who was not injured, was released to a family member.
Menefee was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated — endangerment and taken to the Bartholomew County Jail, Harris said.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
