Local man charged with leaving scene after a fatal accident with unnamed female pedestrian
At approximately 6:40 am on February 20, 2024, Monroe County Central Dispatch received a call of a person wearing dark clothing walking southbound in the northbound lane of South State Road 37 near Dillman Road, in Bloomington, IN. Approximately 3 minutes later, several callers reported the individual had been hit, but they had not witnessed the accident. Monroe County Deputies and EMT personnel were dispatched to the area and arrived to find a female lying in the roadway deceased. Crash reconstructionist and Detectives were called to the scene. The investigation led detectives to 38-year-old Dustin Eason, of Bloomington, IN. Mr. Eason was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital for a blood draw then booked into the Monroe County Jail on the charges of: Leaving the Scene of an Accident resulting in death, a Level 4 felony. Identification of the deceased is pending notification of next of kin.
*Criminal Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted by court of law
B-Line Trail Repairs at City Hall
Parks and Recreation are coordinating with the City of Bloomington Utilities Department to make repairs to the Farmers’ Market Plaza at City Hall following a mid-January water main break. The overnight break displaced pavers and subgrade throughout the area. Traffic on the B-Line Trail will be detoured west to the sidewalk along Rogers Street for about two weeks while repairs are completed. The repair work, authorized as an emergency repair, will be officially presented for ratification to the Board of Park Commissioners at their Feb. 27, 2024 meeting.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Department seeks assistance from public
Armed methamphetamine trafficker sentenced to 18 years after violent domestic assault
Cody Steele, 41, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing of methamphetamine and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, on May 27, 2021, IMPD officers responded to reports of shots fired on the southeast side of Indianapolis. Witnesses stated that the driver of a red Hummer shot at another vehicle and drove off. Officers quickly located the red Hummer and Cody Steele, who was the driver.
On the driver’s seat, officers found a plastic bag containing approximately 404 grams of pure methamphetamine. A .38 caliber revolver with five spent casings was found on the passenger seat floorboard. On the ground outside the Hummer, officers located a loaded 7.62mm assault rifle that had been stolen. A search of Steele’s person also revealed $1,853 in cash. The defendant admitted to possessing the methamphetamine with the intent to sell it and carrying the guns in furtherance of his drug trafficking.
During this investigation, officers learned that the defendant was involved in an alleged domestic assault earlier on the day he was arrested. The victim reported that shortly after midnight on that day the defendant was arrested, she attempted to leave him. The struck her and told her that she could not leave, and if she tried, he would kill her dogs. Later that morning, she tried to leave again, and the defendant threw a dog chain at her, hitting her in the face. He damaged her vehicle, and she was unable to use it leave. When she started to walk away, the defendant followed her in his vehicle. He had control over her dog and told her to get in his car or he would kill her dog, scaring her into entering the car.
The victim told law enforcement that the defendant drove her around for several hours. Steele would not allow her out of the vehicle. She tried to open the door several times but defendant sped up the vehicle so she couldn’t exit. One time when she tried to leave, Steele bit her on the arm. Eventually they stopped at a parking lot and the victim called for help. Bystanders assisted her in retrieving one of her dogs from Steele during a physical struggle.
Employees of nearby businesses aided the victim. The victim did not call the police because she feared losing her dogs. She began to return to the residence to get her vehicle. Her vehicle had been damaged by Steele, so she had to drive slowly. As she drove, the defendant yelled at her, and she heard a gunshot. Steele pulled in behind her and rammed her vehicle, forcing her car into oncoming traffic. When she was able to pull it back into her lane Steele rammed her vehicle from behind. Steele fled the area, and a witness began to follow Steele and called 911.
Officers responded to the hospital and observed the victim to have visible bruising and swelling to her eye, a laceration and blood on her face, bruising on her arms, blood on her clothing, and seemed to have broken blood vessels in her right eye.
Steele has a lengthy criminal history, including felony convictions for domestic battery, child molestation of a ten-year-old victim, and escape. Each of these prior felony convictions prohibit Steele from ever legally possessing a firearm. The defendant was also convicted of a misdemeanor invasion of privacy for violating a no-contact order with his wife.
IU Health chooses new Region President
IU Health has brought on a new healthcare and hospital administrator. Denzil Ross is the new South Central Region President as of this week, leading strategic and operational avenues for IU Health Bloomington, IU Health Bedford Hospital, IU Health Morgan, IU Health Paoli Hospital, and over 60 ambulatory clinics and joint ventures encompassing more than 5,000 team members in seven Indiana counties.
Ross has served in a variety of healthcare environments over the past 15 years, with his most recent venture as a chief executive officer of a 145-bed facility he helped open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ross utilized the LEAN methodology in this role to build out and implement service lines, physician recruitment and contracting.
This Week in Hoosier History
1955 – Doctors began the first mass inoculation of children with the Salk polio vaccine, produced by Eli Lilly Laboratories in Indianapolis.
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