By John Estridge
A Richmond woman has been charged with three felonies in the death of a Union County Highway Department employee with another county highway employee receiving very serious injuries.
Police allege Gina M. Price, 37, had fentanyl and methadone in her bloodstream at the time of the crash.
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit written by Indiana State Police Trooper Paul Harrison, the fatal accident occurred on the morning of Oct. 18, 2021.
Killed was Justin Moore, Brookville; and seriously injured was Douglas Scaggs, Liberty.
Price told police she was coming from a friend’s house in Brownsville, heading east on Clifton Road, to U.S. 27 where she was going to drive to her mother’s house in Richmond, to get ready for work and eventually go to Oxford, Ohio, where she was going to work for the first day at a new job. She was afraid she was late.
After the accident occurred and while still at the scene, Indiana State Police Trooper Aaron Edwards talked with Price, asking her what occurred. She said her windshield wasn’t completely cleaned, and she looked down at her phone to check the time, and she thought she hit a pole, but she actually hit a man. She made the same statement at the scene to Liberty Police Chief Andrew Jordan.
However, when questioned by ISP Trooper Ryan Davis, she said she was startled by hitting something and looked down at her phone.
“I’ve never wrecked ever,” Price is quoted in the Affidavit as saying to Davis. “Let alone hit somebody … I didn’t know I hit him. I thought I hit the pole. I hit the pole, and I looked as soon as I hit the pole, I looked at the time, and I was like ‘oh my God, I’m going to be late.’”
Davis then walked around and observed the scene. After that, he asked Price to sit in his police car and give an official statement. Price consented, and Price read and signed an Advice of Rights form.
“So, I grabbed my phone to see what time it was, because I was actually on my way to Richmond because I had to get ready for work,” Price is quoted in the Affidavit. “When I hit something, I thought I had just hit the pole, so obviously I’m going to be late.”
After pulling over, she called her mother. A person driving a semi stopped and asked if Price was OK. He also asked if she had called police. She told the truck driver she was in the process of calling the police.
It was at that time, she realized that she hit two people.
“And I didn’t realize that there were two people, and I didn’t realize that there were people, I thought I hit the pole that’s directly by the gravel entrance,” she was reported to have said to Davis.
She denied telling Edwards she looked at her phone before the accident. She told Davis she was not distracted by anything while driving and was not on her phone. She looked at the phone for the time after the accident. She said she didn’t see the men working in the area and noted there were no traffic cones or signs stating people were working. She believed her speed was 45 miles per hour.
According to the Affidavit, she told Davis she did “just wake, but that was the only thing.” She denied having fallen asleep and denied being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Davis informed Price ISP Master Trooper Scott Keegan was enroute to conduct a crash reconstruction and wanted access to Price’s phone. Price refused to consent to allowing Keegan to see her phone.
Then, Davis advised Price of Indiana’s Implied Consent Law regarding serious bodily injury or fatal crashes. Davis then read the implied consent card he keeps in a pocket on his uniform. Price was taken by ISP Trooper William Hertel to Reid Hospital in Richmond where a blood draw was conducted. Those samples were collected and mailed to the Indiana State Laboratory.
While Price was at the hospital, Davis and Trooper Andy Wandersee went to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office where they prepared a Warrant for the search and seizure of Price’s cellphone to determine if it was in use at the time of the accident.
At the scene, Keegan did a detailed crash investigation.
He said the Union County Highway Department dump truck was parked in a gravel pull-off between two cornfields.
In a later interview, Scaggs told Harrison, he and Moore parked the truck beside Clifton Road. Their job that day was to shovel gravel along the edge of the road to protect it from chipping and breaking off.
At the scene, Keegan found a pool of blood to the left rear of the dump truck and a broom and shovel laying on the ground nearby. He also found a brown scuff mark about one foot from the road’s edge.
According to Keegan’s report, weather was not a factor nor were there any mechanical issues with Price’s vehicle. Visibility at the time of the accident was nine miles and one could see 2,000 feet line of site to the accident scene. While it was morning and Price was driving east, she was wearing sunglasses and her visor was in the down position.
Price’s 2008 Honda hit both Moore and Scaggs with Moore landing in the ditch beside the road and Scaggs landing behind the dump truck. Scaggs was conscious at the scene.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas J. Sozio determined Moore’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, chest and abdomen. Price’s vehicle had visible front-end damage. Glass from Price’s windshield was found in Scagg’s hooded sweatshirt.
Scaggs was aircared from the scene to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. After Scaggs returned home after an extensive stay at the hospital, Harrison went to Scaggs’ home to interview him. Although Scaggs remembers working along the road, he has no recollection of the accident.
ISP was unable to determine if Price’s cellphone was in use at the time of the accident. There was one text message sent from Price’s phone at 9:15 a.m. saying: “I’m freaking out I think I killed him.”
The toxicology report was returned on January 10. It stated Price had fentanyl and methadone in her system. Both are Schedule II Controlled Substances in Indiana. Police said Price did not have any prescriptions for fentanyl or methadone in the last two years.
UC Prosecutor A.J. Bryson charged Price with Operating while Intoxicated Causing Death, as a Level 4 Felony; Reckless Homicide, as a Level 5 Felony; and Operating while Intoxicated Causing Serious Bodily Injury, as a Level 5 Felony.
If convicted of a Level 4 Felony, Price could receive from two to 12 years in prison. A Level 5 Felony conviction brings with it a sentence of one to five years in prison.
An initial hearing is set for 1:30 p.m., Monday, April 25, in Union Circuit Court before Union Circuit Court Judge Matthew R. Cox.