By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Derrick Devon Hall

SYRACUSE — A Goshen man was arrested after allegedly battering two people and escaping from a police officer’s vehicle.

Derrick Devon Hall, 33, 16356 Daisy Ave., Goshen, is charged with escape, a level 5 felony; possession of methamphetamine and two counts of domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, all level 6 felonies; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class B misdemeanor.

On April 27, an Indiana State Police trooper responded to a domestic incident in Syracuse. Upon arrival, the trooper was directed to two people near a vehicle, one being a woman holding the left side of her face. Hall, who was in the vehicle, was detained.

According to court documents, the trooper noticed Hall smelled like alcohol. The woman near the vehicle said Hall hit the side of her face and dragged her across the ground by her hair. Prior to this, Hall knocked glasses off a man’s face.

The trooper noticed the left side of the woman’s face and head were red.

While placing Hall inside his patrol vehicle, the trooper noticed a plastic bag containing meth near where Hall had been standing.

The trooper then spoke with the man who allegedly had his glasses knocked off by Hall. The man said Hall became angry with a woman and he held him back, but Hall knocked his glasses off his face, causing a cut to the left side of his temple. These incidents occurred in a local restaurant.

While being read his Miranda rights, Hall said he didn’t hit anyone, opened the patrol vehicle door, and fled. The trooper chased Hall and apprehended him on foot. While searching Hall’s person, the trooper found a straw used to ingest drugs.

In surveillance footage from the restaurant, the trooper saw Hall hit the woman’s face, grab her hair and yank her down. A portable breath test registered Hall with a 0.135% BAC.

At the time of this incident, Hall had an active criminal case for domestic battery and resisting law enforcement in Elkhart County. He also has prior convictions for domestic battery, meth possession, paraphernalia possession, and marijuana possession.

For this case, Hall was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on April 27.