Driver arrested for OWI after truck hits house

Photo provided Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies investigated this accident in the n the 4300 block of North County Road 200W in which the driver was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

A local man was arrested and accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated after his pickup hit a home.

At 10:21 a.m. Friday, Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies were sent to a property-damage accident in the 4300 block of North County Road 200W, said Detective Dane Duke, sheriff’s department spokesman.

A caller reported that a vehicle had ran into a residence and that the driver had allegedly been consuming alcohol, Duke said.

Upon deputies’ arrival they found a pickup truck that had struck a residence causing significant damage to its structure. The residents of the home were not home at the of the incident.

Upon further investigation by Deputy Ryan Smith, the driver of the vehicle, Noah Rutan, 22, of 1170 E. County Road 450S, Columbus, was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated – endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor.

Rutan was later released after he was found to be eligible based on the proxy release matrix, meaning he was not required to post his $5,000 bond before being released.