MUNCIE, IN — A Muncie man has been arrested on allegations stemming in part from a fatal shooting on the early morning of Sunday, May 31, on the city’s near-northeast side.
However, 47-year-old Bruce Dajuan Smith is not accused of participating in the killing of 28-year-old Vincent Bernard Coleman Jr. of Muncie — in the 600 block of North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard — about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, or the shootings of two other men at that location.
Smith was being held without bond on Monday in the Delaware County Jail on suspicion of aggravated battery, resisting law enforcement, driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a traffic accident.
According to an affidavit, in the wake of the gunfire at Hi Lows — the announced location of an R&B Day party on Saturday evening — Delaware County sheriff’s deputies used their police vehicles with emergency lights activated to block northbound traffic at MLK and Bunch boulevards.
A Muncie police officer wrote that Smith, driving a Pontiac Grand Prix, approached the sheriff’s vehicles, and that he turned the Grand Prix’s tires “toward me” and did not respond to “loud verbal commands” to stop.
The city officer reported he pulled his service weapon and pointed it at the driver, whose car “continued to advance toward me.”
That officer, a Muncie Police Department colleague and a deputy were all nearly hit by the Grand Prix, the court document said.
A deputy reportedly shot at Smith’s car, although the driver was not wounded, prompting an investigation by Indiana State Police. Evidence gathered will be presented to Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman to determine whether the gunfire was justified.
According to the affidavit, the Grand Prix “continued northbound at a high rate of speed” before crashing into a parked Eaton police car.
Smith was removed from his car and appeared to be intoxicated, the city officer reported. He was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital by ambulance for evaluation of possible crash injuries and a blood draw.
At the hospital, the Muncie man “denied ever seeking police cars, drinking alcoholic beverages or almost hitting police officers,” the court document reported.
The city officer described Smith as “belligerent.”
According to court records, the Muncie man has been convicted of crimes including driving while intoxicated (at least three times), possession of cocaine, false informing, battery and disorderly conduct.
Muncie police are continuing to investigate Coleman’s fatal shooting and the wounding of the two other gunshot victims at the scene of Saturday night’s party. An advertisement listed hours for the party as 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man arrested in incident near Sunday shooting scene
Reporting by Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
