Officer passed out in restaurant drive through

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Another IMPD Officer faces charges after an arrest on March 31st at a Steak 'N Shake in Indianapolis.

Police say that a man approached several officers inside the restaurant located in the 4300 block of Southport Crossings Drive to inform them of a man in truck who was passed out in the drive through.

The man told police he tried to shake the man through his truck window to wake him, but the man didn’t move.

The officers then left the restaurant to investigate and noticed Officer Matthew Elam, 42, passed out in his truck, blocking others from getting their food.

Officers woke Elam and asked him to exit the vehicle, which at first he refused. While trying to get the man to exit, officers noticed a full bottle of a beverage and officer's say they could smell alcohol on his breath.

Officer Elam exited his truck and began to walk, but had trouble. Officers then arrested Elam and transported him to Wishard Memorial Hospital for a blood draw.

According to police, Elam was on indefinite suspension, pending termination at the time of this arrest and was not driving an IMPD squad car.

This is not Elam’s first run-in with the law.

In 2010 the Chief made a recommendation for termination as a result of an earlier internal investigation into alleged acts of wrongdoing and violations of departmental rules, according to an IMPD release.

The investigation stemmed from an accident, where Elam was accused of wrecking his squad car, hiding the evidence, and denying any involvement in the crash.

A Grand Jury indicted Elam on charges of Official Misconduct, Failure to Stop After an Accident Resulting in property Damage and False Reporting for that incident.

The current arrest does not affect the Chief’s recommendation for termination, and currently he is awaiting a hearing in front of the IMPD Merit Board to consider the termination recommendation, according to an IMPD release.