AUBURN, IN (WTVB) – Court documents indicate the suspect who is charged in connection with the death of a Indiana State Police trooper in DeKalb County smoked marijuana about an hour before the Trooper was struck last Friday during a winter storm and was driving to Michigan to buy more.
WANE-TV in Fort Wayne reports 42-year-old Terry D. Sands II of Marion, Indiana was charged with a Level 2 felony of resisting law enforcement. The charge is filed as a Level 2 Felony because a public safety officer was killed.
A conviction could lead to a maximum prison term of 30 years.
50-year-old Indiana State Police Master Trooper James Bailey was struck and killed as he was assisting other troopers on I-69 with traffic backup as a result of weather related vehicle crashes south of Auburn.
His funeral is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
According to WANE-TV, a probable cause affidavit states Sands told investigators he was going north on I-69 when he saw police lights and vehicles slowing down.
He did not stop and when he saw an officer deploy stop sticks, Smith swerved to his left and claimed “the officer ran in front of him.”
Indiana State Police said last Friday Bailey became aware of an individual driving at a high rate of speed evading an officer from the Fort Wayne Police Department on I-69 approaching his location. He tried to de-escalate that vehicle pursuit by deploying stop sticks but was struck by the suspect vehicle and critically injured.
Bailey was pronounced dead at Parkview Regional Medical Center.
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