Local woman arrested after fleeing scene, injuring officer

COLUMBUS, Ind. - A Bartholomew County woman was taken into custody on felony charges on Sunday, August 30, after she allegedly fled from Columbus Regional Health (CRH) property in a vehicle, injuring an officer in the process.   

The Columbus Police Department (CPD) was dispatched to CRH just after 2:30 p.m. The call initially came in as a traffic accident that injured a Columbus Regional Health Police Department (CRHPD) officer.   

When CPD officers arrived, they learned that the CRHPD officer was speaking to a woman acting erratically inside her SUV in the emergency room parking lot. The CRHPD officer grabbed the outside driver’s door handle, and the suspect supposedly accelerated, pulling the officer to the ground. The officer suffered head, hip, and back injuries.    

CPD later found the vehicle and the woman, Audrey Lewis, 32, of Columbus, at her home in the 8700 block of West Youth Camp Road. She was transported to the hospital for evaluation and then placed under arrest.    

She was preliminarily charged with:    

• Battery (level 3 felony)
• Resisting law enforcement in a vehicle causing serious bodily injury (level 4 felony)
• Criminal recklessness (level 6 felony)

The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges are a possibility.

The CRHPD officer was treated at the hospital and has been released.