Man Faces Battery Charge After Allegedly Head-Butting Officer
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — A Warsaw man is facing a battery charge after he allegedly head-butted a police officer in the chest.
Phillip Lee Owens, 40, 1010 E. Center St. No. 3, Warsaw, is facing charges of battery to a public safety official, a level 5 felony; resisting law enforcement with injury, a level 6 felony; and operating while intoxicated endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a Warsaw Police officer was patrolling along Center and Columbia streets in Warsaw on Sept. 20, 2020. He observed an orange Dodge Nitro traveling at a high rate of speed.
He noted the vehicle didn’t have a visible license plate. The officer was able to make a traffic stop at Market and Tamarack streets.
He observed an expired temporary license plate in the inside of the Nitro’s rear tinted window. When the officer spoke with Owens, Owens said someone had pulled a gun on him and he was trying to get away.
The officer noted that Owens had slurred speech and had to lean on his vehicle for support. The officer questioned Owens’ female passenger about the person they were trying to get away from. She said there was no such person with a gun and they had not been in any fight with anyone in the half-hour she was with Owens.
The officer attempted to have Owens perform field sobriety tests and a PBT test, but he was unable to finish the tests. He did agree to a voluntary blood draw. Owens requested permission to smoke and make a phone call, which the officer denied.
Owens then became angry and refused to have a blood draw. He was taken to a local hospital where he head-butted an officer in the chest before being restrained by officers.
A blood draw and PBT showed Owens’ blood alcohol level was 0.140%.