HANCOCK COUNTY — A man whose violent attempts to flee during a November traffic stop left three sheriff’s deputies injured has posted a $50,000 cash bond.
But George West, who has been charged with several felonies, including drug charges, isn’t going anywhere for now. He remains in the Hancock County Jail because of pending criminal charges in California.
Defendants post bond all the time to get out of jail pending court appearances and trial. But it’s unusual for people arrested here to face bonds as large as $50,000. It’s even more unusual for a defendant to post one that large.
Police and prosecutors considered West a flight risk when he was arrested. They offered little comment.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton said West has every right to pay a bond and to have an open and fair trial. Court records show the defendant made a motion for a bond reduction Jan. 2, but it was denied.
“We asked for a bond that we thought was appropriate, and we look forward to proving our case moving forward,” Eaton said.
Added Maj. Bobby Campbell, second in command at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department: “Even though we’ve had a situation here where it’s had an effect on officers, the court says you are permitted a bond, and we have to abide by that whether we like it or not.”
West, 34, Indianapolis, currently has a jury trial set for Aug. 27 in Hancock Circuit Court, where he’ll face six felony charges.
West was arrested Nov. 27 after a struggle with officers in and around his SUV at the eastbound rest stop on Interstate 70 in Hancock County. West had been pulled over for a routine traffic stop. One deputy suffered a dislocated shoulder when West, according to court documents, was able to jam his car in reverse and back into him. Another officer suffered bumps, bruises and respiratory distress from the violent scuffle inside the vehicle, which lasted six minutes. A third deputy suffered an injury to his hand when it was struck by a taser probe.
Police said they found more than three pounds of methamphetamine in the vehicle. The arrest was made by members of the Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement team. The PACE team patrols Interstate 70 on drug-interdiction details.
West faces one Level 2 felony count of dealing a narcotic drug; one Level 4 felony count of possession of a narcotic drug; one Level 5 felony count of disarming a law enforcement officer; one Level 5 felony count and one Level 6 felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer; and one Level 6 felony count of resisting law enforcement.
The most serious of those charges carries a sentence of 30 years.
Records show his bond was posted last week in the form of a cashier’s check by a person named Irnisha Poindexter, who is listed as being from California.
A woman, Ashley Livingston, 22, of Akron, Ohio, was in the car with West when police stopped the SUV. She was also arrested and charged with a Level 2 felony count of dealing methamphetamine and a Level 3 felony count of possession of methamphetamine.
Livingston bonded out on a $10,000 surety bond shortly after her arrest. Her jury trial is set for April 30 in Hancock Circuit Court.
