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Indiana man arrested in deadly DUI crash was out on bond for drunk driving at the time

Indiana man arrested in deadly DUI crash was out on bond for drunk driving at the time

CORNETTSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A 19-year-old Montgomery man arrested for his role in a deadly drunk driving crash on Saturday was said by police to be awaiting trial for a previous offense of driving under the influence.

According to the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, Jordan Wagler was arrested late Saturday night at the scene of a fatal crash at county roads 700 North and 300 East. That’s a rural area that includes the unincorporated community of Cornettsville, which is about 8 miles northeast of the county seat of Washington.

Deputies responded to the intersection around 11:41 p.m. Saturday on a report that a vehicle had hit a pole. One person was reported to not be breathing.

Investigators determined Wagler had been driving a 1997 Jeep with six passengers. Two females were sharing the front passenger seat and not wearing seatbelts, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.

Deputies say that Lora Graber, 16, of Odon, was partially leaning outside of the vehicle when it side-swiped the pole. Graber was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy determined Graber died from blunt force trauma to the head.

The Daviess County Sheriff’s Office released that Wagler submitted to a blood draw with an initial result showing he registered a 0.18 blood-alcohol content.

He was booked into the Daviess County Security Center on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death.

In a follow-up post on social media, the sheriff’s office says that Wagler had also been arrested for driving while intoxicated on Memorial Day weekend.

Authorities determined he had a blood-alcohol count of 0.20 on May 27. Online court records show that Wagler’s bond was set at $500 cash, but was posted on June 1.

A trial had been scheduled for Jan. 16.

As of Tuesday afternoon, court activity posted online did not indicate formal charges had been filed in the deadly weekend crash.

The sheriff’s office stated that Daviess Superior Court Judge Dean Sobecki has set Wagler’s bond at $250,000 cash for the new case.

The crash site is about a 2-hour drive southwest of downtown Indianapolis.

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