Man charged with driving with controlled substance in blood after boy fatally hit by truck
FRANKLIN, Ind. (WISH) — A Greenwood man faces charges of driving a pickup truck with a “controlled substance” in his blood when he struck a 2-year-old in April at a mobile home park in Greenwood, the Johnson County prosecutor said Wednesday.
Isaiah D. Bonds, 2, of South Bend, died after receiving a head injury, according to a police report.
Christopher Lee White, 59, was charged July 1 after a blood test found “certain substances” in his blood, which was enough to charge him with Operating a Vehicle with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance, said a news release issued Wednesday by the prosecutor. The controlled substance was not shared in the release. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 60 days incarcerated and a $500 fine.
The fatality happened around 4:39 p.m. April 19 at Winterbrook Mobile Home Park near the intersection of County Line Road and County Road 400 West, Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said in April. White, who worked at Winterbrook, was driving a truck owned by the mobile home park, the sheriff said.
White told authorities he’d seen children playing in the road in the mobile home park, and exited the vehicle and warned them to get out of the road, according to the release from the prosecutor. A short time later, White again saw the children were playing in the road as he attempted to drive past them.
“White was not speeding through the area and made a complete stop at the stop sign where the incident occurred. White was unable to see the child because of his location near the front wheel of the truck, and the child was struck when White made a turn. A search warrant was later obtained for White’s blood,” the release said.
The release continued, “A potential charge of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Causing Death was not filed against White due to a lack of evidence. In any OWI causing death case, the burden is on the State to show the accident was caused by some kind of erratic or impaired driving by the defendant. Based on all the information and evidence gathered by the Sheriff’s Office, there was no evidence White operated the vehicle in a dangerous or reckless manner. To the contrary, the evidence shows on both occasions White stopped his vehicle and attempted to continue driving only after he believed the children were safely out of the way. There was also no evidence that White was in any way impaired by his alleged consumption of any substances found in the blood test.”
“This was a tragic set of circumstances for both sides, but not every aspect of this tragedy is a crime. Prosecutions must be based on facts and evidence, not the emotional circumstances surrounding the event. While not criminally liable for the death of the young child, White is criminally liable for the substances he allegedly chose to put into his body. It’s that choice which for which we now seek to prosecute him.”
Joe Villanueva, Johnson County prosector
