The Starke County Dispatch Center received a call on Wednesday in reference to an individual who was activating blue emergency lights in their vehicle, attempting to pull people over, without the proper authority.
Knox City Police Chief Harold Smith noted that the driver was later identified as James Sallee, of Winamac. Chief Smith said that after Sallee made the false traffic stop, he apparently “flipped off” the driver of the vehicle and drove off.
The driver contacted police around 11 a.m. in order to alert them of the incident. The caller informed authorities that the vehicle was a Black Chevrolet Lumina and that he followed the individual to Walgreens. Sergeant Chad Dulin responded to the call and found the vehicle to be at that location.
He noted that he followed the vehicle and said the driver committed a couple of traffic violations. Dulin said he conducted a traffic stop around 11:25 a.m. He reported that at that time, Sallee was apparently non-compliant and resisting.
He explained that he had to use his taser on Sallee and he still continued to be incompliant. Dulin called for back up and more officers from the Knox City Police Department as well as the Starke County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene near Heritage Baptist Church.
Sergeant Dulin said that Sallee was detained and transported to the hospital for an evaluation to determine his BAC.
The results of the official test are not yet available. However, Dulin said a presumptive test showed a BAC of .390. According to BAC charts, that is a dangerously high level.
No formal charges have been made at this time Dulin said due to the apparently high levels of alcohol in his system, the suspect was released into the custody of a family member. He added that this case calls for a long-form arrest.
