Monthly Archives: May 2022

Seymour Interim Police Chief Named

Seymour Police Department Capt. Troy Munson was named interim police chief by Mayor Matt Nicholson at Thursday’s Seymour Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.

Current Chief Bryant Lucas is leaving to take a position with Indiana University Health. His last day is June 4th. Munson will fill in until a permanent police chief is hired.

Applications for the position may be submitted at Seymour City Hall, 301-309 N. Chestnut St. The deadline for applying is Friday, June 3rd.

Bridge Deck Overlay on I-65 Near Edinburgh

Indiana Department of Transportation contractor HIS Constructors plans to close County Line Road (County Road 800E) over I-65 near Edinburgh starting today, to complete a bridge deck overlay project.

The bridge was rehabbed last year, but is being redone due to material difficulties.

The bridge is scheduled to close for approximately four weeks, through late June, with a detour that follows County Road 650S, County Road 700E and County Road 400 S.

Free Legal Aid Phone Clinic Coming Up

Legal Aid will have a free Legal Aid Phone Clinic for residents of its eight county district on June 7th.

The district includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Rush, and Shelby counties.

The phone clinic will be from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. though registration is required between Noon – 2:00 p.m.

The clinic utilizes local volunteer attorneys, offering free legal consultations to low-income individuals who might not otherwise be able to afford an attorney.

Individuals can expect to receive a brief consultation to answer general questions, offer legal information, or to receive other limited advice, over the phone. Individuals seeking legal consultation must register by calling 812-378-0358 on June 7th, between Noon – 2:00 p.m.  A volunteer attorney will return calls to registered individuals between 3:00 – 5:30 p.m.  Individuals must be available to answer a call from an attorney.

Seymour Man in Jail after Allegedly Assaulting Daughter

A  Seymour man has gone to jail after allegedly assaulting his daughter.

Martin Diego Juan, of Seymour, was arrested for sexual battery.

The Seymour Police Department (SPD) received information on May 13th that an 11-year-old female had allegedly been sexually battered by her father.

The victim was then interviewed by detectives and Family Case Managers with the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Police tried to locate Juan, the child’s father, later in the evening, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

Juan was eventually found by SPD on May 20th. He was taken into custody, charged, and transported to Jackson County Jail.

Andretti taking laps in vintage Cummins race car

Racing legend Mario Andretti has been taking laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1952 Cummins Diesel Special car, according to the engine manufacturer.

The No. 28 car is the only diesel-powered car to ever win the pole at the Indianapolis 500. According to the company, a team of engineers built the modified 400 cubic-inch, six-cylinder, turbocharged Cummins diesel truck engine. It was the first turbocharged engine to run the Indianapolis 500. At the time, the car set a one-lap track record of 139 mph to qualify for the pole position.

In 2019, Cummins engineers used 3D printing to recreate a water pump, bringing the car back to running condition.

On Twitter, Andretti posted a photo of himself driving the car earlier this week at the speedway during the leadup events to Sunday’s race, saying that when Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum asked him to take a lap in the car, he said “Of course I’ll do it.”

Photo courtesy of Mario Andretti Twitter feed.

Click here for more information from Cummins

State police investigating death of Jennings inmate

Indiana State Police are investigating the death of an inmate yesterday at the Jennings County Jail.

According to state police reports, shortly after 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning, corrections officers found 35-year-old Sandra I. Ray of North Vernon unresponsive in her cell. Jail officers and medics could not revive her and she was pronounced dead by the Jennings County Coroner’s office.

State police say that Ray was housed in the cell by herself and was the only person in the cell at the time of her death. She had originally been arrested on Tuesday evening on a charge of operating a vehicle while under the influence.

An autopsy was conducted Thursday morning in North Vernon and the results are pending. No foul play is suspected, troopers say.

Forecasters: Seymour tornado was weak, rare landspout

Last night’s tornado warnings in Jackson, Bartholomew and Jennings counties were the result of the sighting of a relatively rare landspout tornado, rather than a traditional twister, according to the National Weather Service.

Tornado warnings were issued at about 6:30 p.m., after a confirmed funnel cloud briefly was seen northeast of Seymour, moving north at 40 mph, with warnings that the tornado would be near Columbus by 6:45 p.m. But before the funnel reached Columbus, the storm had weakened and the weather service said it no longer was strong enough to support a tornado.

The weather service said that a normal tornado forms from wind shear in the clouds of supercell thunderstorms causing rotation and that rotation descends to the ground. However, a landspout starts from surface level wind shifts, which can get sucked up into a non-rotating thunderstorm, stretching the vortex vertically up to the cloud level.

Landspouts are difficult to see on radar, because of the lack of storm rotation.

Graphic courtesy of National Weather Service.

Tornado warning, tornado on ground near Seymour

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a Tornado Warning for…

Southeastern Bartholomew County in central Indiana…
Northwestern Jennings County in southeastern Indiana…

Until 645 PM EDT.

* At 630 PM EDT, a confirmed funnel cloud perhaps briefly touching down as a tornado was located 7 miles northeast of Seymour, moving north at 40 mph.

HAZARD…Tornado.

SOURCE…Weather spotters confirmed tornado.

IMPACT…Expect damage to mobile homes, roofs, and vehicles.

* The tornado will be near…
Azalia around 635 PM EDT.
Elizabethtown around 640 PM EDT.
Columbus and Grammer around 645 PM EDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

To repeat, a tornado is on the ground. TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect
yourself from flying debris.

Stolen car recovered; Columbus woman under arrest

Richa J. Gordon. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

A Columbus woman was arrested and a stolen vehicle recovered after police received assistance from a license-plate reading camera system.

According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers received a notification from one of the community’s Flock cameras that a stolen car from Seymour had entered the community. Police found the car in the 1100 block of Pearl Street.

The vehicle’s driver, 54-year-old Richa J. Gordon of Columbus was arrested on a preliminary charge of possession of a stolen vehicle.

The Flock camera system was purchased by Bartholomew County last year. The cameras have the ability to read license plates and quickly process those against a database to alert police with various pieces of information, such as the plate of a stolen vehicle, or a vehicle suspected in a child abduction or missing persons case. That information is processed within moments and then forwarded to on-duty officers and deputies via a computer program in their vehicle.