A South Whitley man was arrested on charges of battery causing serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony; aggressive driving, a class A misdemeanor; failure to stop after a vehicle accident, a class A misdemeanor. Zachary E. Amburgey, 23, of 8785 W. CR400S, South Whitley, was arrested at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, on June 21, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Police Officer James Marshall responded to an automobile accident in Kosciusko County where the subjects involved were fighting. Marshall arrived and spoke with a male victim who had a bump on his forehead and an abrasion to his face.
The victim advised he was driving and about to approach a horse drawn wagon with children on board that began making a right hand turn. The wagon covered the entire southbound land and he observed a vehicle approaching at a high rate of speed. He pulled his vehicle over toward the center line and waved his arm out the window in an attempt to slow or stop the approaching black car.
The victim further advised the approaching driver pulled up next to his vehicle and began screaming at him, flipped him off and then passed him. At the next intersection, the black car pulled over and let the victim drive by and then pulled out behind him. The car passed him and slammed on his breaks. The victim was unable to stop and struck the back of the black car. The male driver got out of his car and began yelling at the victim and wanting to fight. He advised he ran from the male subject who chased him and punched him in the head until he fell to the ground and then he began kicking him. The victim’s seven-year-old daughter began screaming to call the police and the male subject got in his car and drove away.
Kosciusko County dispatch received a call from a witness who advised he saw a black Pontiac leave the scene of the accident and provided the registration of the vehicle. Marshall found the car was registered to a female.
Marshall spoke with another witness who advised the victim pulled in his driveway and a male subject jumped out of a black Pontiac and chased the victim around the yard while the victim was stating he would not fight. The male subject then caught the victim and began punching him in the face and head. The victim fell to the ground and the subject began kicking him. Then, the male subject left in his vehicle.
The victim was transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital for treatment for his injuries. Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Detective Shane Bucher found the victim suffered muscle and tissue damage to the left shoulder, swelling and knots on the left side of his face, swelling to the right side of his head, a contusion of the eyeball and an orbital tissue to the right eye.
The female owner of the black Pontiac Grand Prix was located and it was discovered her boyfriend, Zachary Amburgey, drives the vehicle to work. Bucher obtained a photograph of Amburgey and displayed it in a photo lineup to the victim who identified Amburgey as the individual the battered him.
Amburgey was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday and is being held on a $10,250.00 bond.
