Teen charged after 'emergency' run to McDonald's
NEW CASTLE -- A state police trooper became concerned on the night of Aug. 24 when he saw what appeared to be an emergency vehicle, with a flashing red and blue strobe light, driving south on heavily traveled Ind. 3.
That pickup truck's driver was extremely aggressive, the trooper would later note, closely following other southbound vehicles until those motorists pulled to the side of the four-lane state highway. In the process, the trooper noted, the vehicle with the flashing lights nearly caused at least two traffic accidents.
Then the truck's emergency run came to an abrupt conclusion, when its driver and a passenger reached their destination: the McDonald's restaurant at 1720 S. Memorial Drive. The "emergency," it seems, was a late-night run for fast food.
The trooper found the truck's occupants -- driver Brian E. Cole, 19, and passenger Terry J. Rhyndress, 20, both of the greater New Castle area -- were not emergency personnel, just two guys with a red and blue light.
Cole -- who lives in the 3400 block of East Henry County Road 500-S -- at first told the trooper "he was from the country, and he was allowed to do more out there because it was more lenient where he lives," court documents indicate.
When that stranger-in-a-strange-land defense proved ineffective, Cole told the officer that "all the kids put those kind of lights in the front window (of their vehicles) and he didn't think he had done anything wrong," reports said.
Cole will get an opportunity to share his theories again on Sept. 29 -- his 20th birthday -- when he is scheduled to appear before Henry Superior Court 2 Judge Bob Witham for an initial hearing on a charge of impersonation of a public servant, a Class A misdemeanor carrying a maximum one-year jail term. Cole is also charged with two traffic infractions, following too closely and driving with red and blue lights.
Passenger Rhyndress is also charged with impersonation of a public servant, and is scheduled to appear in court the same day.
Local court records reflect no prior charges against either defendant.
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