Bartholomew County (IN) sheriff’s deputies arrested the Elizabethtown Volunteer Fire Department assistant fire chief Sunday, March 9, in connection with driving and crashing a department vehicle while intoxicated, wthr.com reported.
Deputies said the driver of the fire department pickup truck was responding to a possible house fire when he crashed in the 12000 block of Legal Tender Road, near State Road 7, around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, the report said.
Deputies arrived to find the fire department vehicle on its side in the driveway of a house.
Emergency crews found the driver trapped inside the fire department vehicle, according to the report.
During the accident investigation, deputies said they found evidence of alcohol impairment, the report said.
The fire department vehicle was operating with lights and sirens before it left the roadway, witnesses told police.
The driver of the fire department vehicle was identified as Thomas Nienaber, 67, wrtv.com reported. Nienaber was transported to Columbus Regional Hospital for a blood draw and subsequently arrested in connection with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI), the report said.
