Woman charged with drunken driving in Sunday crash that killed IU student on scooter

Laura Lane, The Herald-Times
·2 min read
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A 20-year-old scooter rider is dead and a 22-year-old woman jailed on drunken-driving charges after an early-morning collision near downtown Bloomington Sunday.

A police department news release said security camera footage from just before the 1:50 a.m. accident shows a black 2012 Mercedes Benz northbound on Walnut Street at 12th Street, near Domino's Pizza, driving at a high rate of speed with the passenger-side wheels on the sidewalk.

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"An individual on the sidewalk can be seen jumping into the grass to avoid being struck by the vehicle just prior to it striking the victim on the scooter," Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo said in the media statement.

Nathaniel Stratton, an Indiana University student from Miromar Lakes, Florida, died from injuries sustained when the car hit the electric scooter he was riding. Monroe County coroner Joani Stalcup said an autopsy will be conducted Tuesday in Terre Haute to confirm Stratton's cause of death.

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Madelyn N. Howard, 22, who is from Crown Point but has a local address of 110 W. Sixth St., reportedly failed dexterity tests when she was located a few blocks from the scene.

She was taken to the hospital to have blood drawn for toxicology tests, to the police station for questioning and then to the Monroe County Jail.

Howard was booked in at 6 a.m. Sunday on two preliminary felony charges: operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death while intoxicated. Her bond was set at $15,500.

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IU spokesman Chuck Carney said Howard is a part-time IU employee. An IU directory said she works in the biology building.

Witnesses to the crash called 911 to report that a car had hit a man riding a scooter, then sped away northbound on Walnut Street.

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After an ambulance took Stratton to the hospital, an IUPD officer located the car that hit him at the intersection of 19th and Lincoln streets.

The windshield on the Mercedes was damaged and a mangled electric scooter was found nearby.

Witnesses said a scooter was dragging beneath the car and when it stopped, a woman got out of the driver's seat and a man from the passenger side, "and the bystanders helped the driver remove it just prior to IUPD arriving," the news release said.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU student killed in scooter crash; woman charged with drunken driving