Cloverdale woman charged with 2 felonies after construction flagger accident

Jessie Parks

Arrested on Thursday night for her role in a crash that left a construction flagger critically injured, a Cloverdale woman learned Friday she has formally been charged with two felonies.

Jessie Parks, 52, appeared via video in Putnam Circuit Court, where Judge Matthew Headley informed her she was charged with Level 6 felony causing serious bodily injury when operating a motor vehicle with an ACE of .08 or more as well as Level 6 felony reckless operation of a vehicle in a highway work zone resulting in bodily injury.

Level 6 felonies carry a sentencing range of six months to 2-1/2 years, meaning Parks could spend five years behind bars.

The accident occurred about 7:15 p.m. Thursday and resulted in critical injuries for 53-year-old Danny Harrington of Terre Haute.

Harrington was taken to Putnam County Hospital before being airlifted to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. He remained in critical condition as of Friday morning, according to Indiana State Police Sgt. Joe Watts.

The investigation revealed that Harrington, working as a flagger for Wabash Valley Asphalt, which is resurfacing U.S. 231, was stopping southbound traffic near the intersection of Jones Road (County Road 300 South).

A 2008 Ford F150 stopped for the flagger, as did a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria.

A third vehicle, a 2008 Subaru Outback driven by Parks, failed to stop, sideswiped the Crown Victoria, struck the Ford F150 and then hit Harrington.

Putnam County sheriff’s deputies were the first police on scene, but relinquished the investigation to ISP when the need for an accident reconstructionist became clear.

ISP Trooper Kyle Hall arrived at Putnam County Hospital to question Parks and learned that Deputy Robert Soilleux had performed field sobriety tests and that Parks had submitted to a certified blood draw.

The blood test revealed a .10 alcohol content as well as the presence of THC (marijuana or hashish) in Parks’ blood.

After her discharge from the hospital, Parks was taken to the ISP Putnamville Post for questioning by ISP Detective 1Sgt Jason Fajt.

Her car was also towed to the Putnamville Post for further investigation.

She was subsequently transported to the Putnam County Jail and booked in at 1:17 a.m.

ISP turned its findings over to Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter who had charges filed in time to appear on Judge Headley’s docket before day’s end.

Parks entered a not-guilty plea to both counts. Sidney Tongret was appointed as her public defender and a pre-trial conference was set for July 19.

Bond was set for $10,000 cash only.

The crash stopped traffic in both directions on U.S. 231 for more than three hours as multiple emergency agencies assisted or extricated patients, investigated the crash, cleaned up debris and diverted traffic.

There were also reports of a secondary accident on Airport Road involving traffic diverted from U.S. 231. No accident report on the Airport Road crash had been filed as of Friday afternoon and no one is believed to have been seriously hurt.

Motorists are reminded to be mindful of the road work on U.S. 231 and elsewhere. Traffic delays and stoppages will remain the norm on 231 between Greencastle and Cloverdale throughout the summer and fall, as Wabash Valley is resurfacing a 10.1-mile stretch of road.

During that time, traffic will be reduced to one lane with flaggers controlling traffic in the area work is being performed.