Greencastle woman facing neglect charge for letting 14-year-old drive resulting in accident
BRAZIL -- A 30-year-old Greencastle woman is facing charges of Level 5 felony neglect of a dependent following a traffic accident Saturday evening in Clay County.
Talissa Marie O’Conner was booked into the Clay County Justice Center early Sunday morning after being medically cleared at St. Vincent Clay Hospital.
O’Conner was incarcerated without bond, awaiting formal court proceedings on the charges.
Due to the ongoing investigation, Clay County law enforcement has not released all details or the parties’ names.
The two-vehicle accident was reported shortly after 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
When Clay County Sheriff’s Department officers and first responders arrived on the scene, the subsequent crash investigation determined that a pickup truck struck a northbound van from behind near the intersection of County Road 700 North.
The accident occurred as an unidentified Vigo County resident and driver of the van had stopped to wait for another vehicle to turn west before continuing north. The van was struck from behind by the 14-year-old juvenile driver (name not released) of the oncoming pickup truck.
Investigators determined O’Conner had told the juvenile to drive the pickup truck.
The collision sent both vehicles off the road and into a nearby ditch. The road was closed for approximately an hour to clear damaged vehicles.
No injuries were reported from the four passengers inside the van (which included two juveniles).
Members of STAR Ambulance checked out all occupants of the pickup, which had eight passengers, seven of which were juveniles.