GREENFIELD — A local woman remains in critical condition at an Indianapolis hospital after the car she was riding in ran off the road, flipped and crashed into a Greenfield house late Saturday.
Local investigators say they will continue to monitor her recovery as they await the results of toxicology tests to determine if the driver — who has a history of intoxicated driving — should face criminal charges.
A Greenfield couple was driving southbound on State Road 9 through Greenfield just before 11:30 p.m. when driver Jason Phelps, 41, sped through a curve in the roadway and lost control of his vehicle, police said.
The car rolled several times and hitting a home in the 600 block of State Street; the car came to rest on its roof, with its front end stuck inside the home. A man and two children were inside the home at the time of the accident, but they were not injured, police said.
Dalene Charron, 45, of Greenfield, the front-seat passenger of a car, has been unresponsive since she was airlifted on the night of the crash to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis with head injuries, police said.
Charron was unconscious and trapped inside the car when first-responders arrived, officers said. She was taken by ambulance to Hancock Regional Hospital, then airlifted to St. Vincent for further care, officials said.
Phelps suffered a broken arm, was treated at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital and released. He is expected to make a full recovery, officials said.
Phelps and Charron were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident, investigators said.
Police believe alcohol was a factor in the accident. They found empty bottles inside the car, and Phelps and Charron were on their way home from a bar when the crash occurred, they said.
Phelps appeared to be intoxicated at the crash scene, police said; he had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, and officers at the scene said they could smell alcohol coming from the damaged vehicle.
Investigators took blood samples from Phelps; those will be sent to the Indiana State Police Crime Lab to confirm if he was under the influence at the time to the crash. Results are typically returned in four to six weeks.
Depending on the results, Phelps could face criminal charges, investigators said.
Phelps has a history of impaired driving; he was the driver in a 2007 crash in Greenfield that killed a 75-year-old woman.
Phelps had cocaine and marijuana in his system when he accidentally backed his truck over Inell Carter.
He pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, resulting in the death of a person — a Class B felony — and sent to prison. He was last released from prison in 2015, records show.