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Editor’s note: This article has been updated.
Indiana State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, is facing OWI and leaving the scene charges after being arrested following an early morning crash Wednesday.
Lucas was booked into the Jackson County Jail at 3:46 a.m. Wednesday and released at 7:53 a.m., according to the Jackson County Jail records. He is facing two charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and one charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
Police were called soon after midnight Wednesday about a vehicle crashing into a guardrail at the Interstate 65 and Indiana 11 interchange just north of Seymour, state police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said, according to The Associated Press. That vehicle was found on the north side of Seymour with heavy damage, and officers stopped Lucas as he was walking nearby, Wheeles said.
Lucas was arrested after troopers conducted sobriety tests, AP reported. Results on blood tests for his intoxication level were not yet available, Wheeles told the AP.
Jail records indicate Lucas’ bond was set at $705.
Online court records on MyCase did not list a case against Lucas as of 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Lucas was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2012. He represents District 69, which includes portions of Bartholomew, Jackson, Washington and Scott counties.
He is a prominent supporter of loosening state gun laws and marijuana legalization. He has faced controversy several times for what critics called racist social media posts, including in 2020 when he posted a meme that showed Black children in diapers dancing with the caption, “We gon’ get free money!”
His legislative office and a spokeswoman for House Speaker Todd Huston didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from the AP about his arrest.
Professionally, Lucas is the owner of The Awning Guy Inc. in Seymour.
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