Just one New Year DUI arrest as A-Cab picks up 122 for free

For the second straight year, just one local DUI arrest was made on the New Year’s holiday.

Arrested by DePauw Public Safety Officer Steve Smith early Tuesday morning, the Greencastle man found himself in the Putnam County Jail before 2019 was two hours old.

Smith was sitting along South Jackson Street when he clocked the southbound vehicle at well in excess of the 20 mph speed limit.

The officer activated his lights and attempted to initiate a stop, but the driver continued southbound.

He eventually pulled into the parking lot at 3G Bowl and fled on foot toward the railroad tracks. He went down the embankment next to the tracks, where Smith caught up with him.

Though he refused a chemical test, the 43-year-old eventually tested at .221 blood alcohol content. He was booked in the Putnam County Jail at 1:40 a.m., charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated-refusal, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and resisting law enforcement.

Despite the arrest, the overall trend of arrests surrounding the New Year’s holiday is encouraging local law enforcement officers.

Last year was the same, with just one DUI arrest, while in 2017, there were no arrests.

It’s perhaps no coincidence that in the same time period, local merrymakers have been taking advantage of free cab rides offered by a local taxi service.

For the fifth straight year on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, local taxi service A-Cab offered free cab rides to anywhere within a five-mile radius of Greencastle.

This year, the free program, co-sponsored by Felling and Felling Attorneys, the Greencastle Eagles and Moore’s Bar, gave 122 safe rides home.

In 2018, A-Cab gave 140 free rides, up from 85 in 2017.