Bartholomew County establishes Fatal Alcohol Crash Team

Deputy Mark Helms; Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Dept.

Bartholomew County officials have established the Bartholomew County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team (F.A.C.T.). The team was put together to investigate all vehicular traffic crashes in the county involving fatal and/or serious bodily injury, as deemed necessary by the investigating agency. The team will be activated for an incident in which impairment is believed to be involved.

The agencies that comprise the Bartholomew County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team are: Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Department of Natural Resources, Columbus Police Department, Columbus Fire Department, Dispatch, Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office. All eight agencies will work together as one unit.

The Team leader is BCSO Deputy Mark Helms, a retired ISP Trooper, who is a crash re-constructionist specialist in both the private and public sectors. Helms previously served as the Lead Instructor in Crash Investigations for the Indiana State Police Recruit Academy as well as the Indiana University Police Academy.