By Carrie Cline -
By David MacAnally -
MADISON COUNTY, Ind. -
An off-duty police officer
arrested for OWI after a fatal accident on Sunday was released after posting
bond Monday morning.
Edgewood Police Officer James
Foutch has officially been placed on administrative leave. The town council
will determine whether that's with or without pay.
The Madison County prosecutor
says investigators believe Officer Foutch was driving under the influence of
hydrocodone, a powerful narcotic.
"We are waiting for the
police to conduct their investigation," Madison County Prosecutor Rodney
Cummings told Eyewitness News.
A blood sample was taken from
Foutch after the crash.
WTHR asked Cummings if the
officer was allegedly taking the hydrocodone legally. Cummings responded,
"I'm not sure it really matters if you're under the influence. You know
that you're not supposed to be driving and doing things that impair your
ability to drive."
The crash killed Jesse Sperry
and injured his wife, Rebecca Sperry, who was nine months pregnant. She
delivered a baby girl via emergency C-section. Mother and child remain
hospitalized. The couple were planning on a C-section delivery that night, but
the crash forced doctors to deliver their daughter early.
Madison County deputies say
Foutch, an officer with the Edgewood Police Department, was driving a 2004 GMC
Yukon westbound on State Road 32 around 12:20 p.m. when he rear-ended a 1996
Buick Century, pushing it off the north side of the roadway and into a utility
pole.
Jesse Sperry was declared dead
at the scene.
Rebecca Sperry, the driver of
the Century, was taken to an Indianapolis hospital with serious injuries.
Sperry's friends have set up a
website to support her. On the site, friends report that she delivered her
daughter, Autumn, via emergency c-section.
Foutch was not hurt but his
girlfriend, who riding with him, was taken to a local hospital to be treated
for pain.
Foutch was arrested on a charge
of OWI while causing death, a Class B felony. He is a 12-year veteran of the
department who normally worked the third shift.