GRANT COUNTY, Ind. -- A volunteer firefighter with the Mill Township Fire Department was charged after he drove a fire truck while intoxicated during an incident earlier this month.
According to court documents filed in Grant County, 57-year-old Scott Oliver was charged with a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
On May 5, troopers with the Indiana State Police responded to a location in southeast Gas City in reference to a first responder who was reportedly intoxicated. The documents said that Oliver, a volunteer firefighter with the Mill Township Fire Department, had responded to a call regarding an injured person on a kayak.
Deputies on the scene could reportedly smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from Oliver. When asked if he had anything to drink, Oliver reportedly told deputies that he had two beers earlier that afternoon, speaking to them in a "slow slurred manner."
Officials said in the documents that Oliver exhibited multiple clues of intoxication in three field tests that were conducted, including swaying during the one-leg stand test and stopping during the walk-and-turn test. When given a portable breath test, Oliver gave a breath sample of .191, which is more than twice the legal limit.
Deputies spoke with another volunteer firefighter who who was on the scene with Oliver. The other firefighter reportedly said that Oliver drove the fire truck to the scene. As they were traveling to the call, the firefighter "had to grab the wheel twice due to (Oliver) nearly driving the vehicle off the roadway."
Brad Dailey, the chief of the Mill Township Fire Department, told FOX59/CBS4 that Oliver was fired within about 24 hours of the incident. Oliver had been with the department since 2021.
According to court documents, a pretrial conference is scheduled in this case for July 22.