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Alcohol potential factor in recent U.S. 231 crash

Thursday, October 28, 2021
By BRAND SELVIA, Staff Writer
Greencastle firefighters (from left) Jonathan Hawkins, Jonny Newgent and Darrick Wiatt study the totaled truck after a motorist crashed near the Putnam County Fairgrounds a week ago.
Banner Graphic/BRAND SELVIA

Intoxication was a possible contributing factor in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 231 last Friday in which a Florida woman was seriously injured.

At about 8:15 p.m., first responders were dispatched near the Putnam County Fairgrounds for a motor vehicle accident with injuries in which a truck was over the northbound guardrail before the bridge over Big Walnut Creek.

According to a report by Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Birt, Sue Parshall, 60, Daytona, Fla., was traveling northbound in a small 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck when she left the roadway near the fairgrounds entrance. The truck continued along the embankment before then going airborne. The driver’s side of the bed impacted a tree 10 feet off the ground before the truck came to rest facing the opposite direction.

With the Greencastle Police Department first on the scene, the Greencastle Fire Department responded with an engine and its hazmat truck, as it was equipped with tools needed for an extrication. However, personnel were able to remove Parshall, who was restrained, through the driver’s-side door.

The driver’s side of the truck bed shows heavy damage. The truck appeared to have gone airborne and came to rest along the northbound guardrail near the bridge crossing Big Walnut Creek.
Banner Graphic/BRAND SELVIA

Parshall was reported to have suffered multiple injuries and was transported to Terre Haute Regional Hospital by Putnam County EMS. Meanwhile, no one inside the residence along the guardrail at 224 N. CR 75 West was hurt.

According to Birt’s report, Greencastle police officers advised that Parshall smelled of alcohol as she was loaded into the ambulance. However, no charges have been filed in the incident as of Thursday.

Adams Towing recovered the totaled truck.

Though road control was implemented, traffic going both ways up and down the hill was able to continue while personnel tended to the scene.

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  • I’m disappointed, Brand. Three separate times in this article you imply that the driver was drunk, yet nearly a week after the crash no charges have been filed. Yep, the woman could very well have been drunk, or she might have been in the middle of a medical crisis when she crashed. There are several medical explanations for a person smelling of alcohol even when they haven’t been drinking - the most common is a diabetic emergency.

    You’re better than this, Brand. Facts, not gossip mongering, ok?

    -- Posted by provine.ann on Sat, Oct 30, 2021, at 11:39 AM

  • Brand is quoting the police report, an official document, that said that they smelled alcohol. Journalists deal in facts and relay the story. Yes, the perpetrator COULD have been in diabetic distress but neither he nor the police can make that conjecture.

    -- Posted by Moretothestory on Sun, Oct 31, 2021, at 5:01 PM
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