Nappanee Woman Arrested After Vehicle Accident Resulting In Serious Injury To Child
Staff Report
Alisha Nicole Rowe
SYRACUSE — A Nappanee woman was recently arrested on several charges after a single-vehicle accident resulting in serious injury to a child.
Alisha Nicole Rowe, 38, 558 N. Elm St., Nappanee, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, a level 3 felony; possession of methamphetamine and causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated, both level 5 felonies; and possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor.
On April 5, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office sergeant responded to a single-vehicle accident at East CR 1000N and North CR 450E, Syracuse.
Upon investigation, the sergeant determined a Chevrolet Trailblazer was traveling west on East CR 1000N when it left the northern edge of the roadway for an unknown reason. The vehicle then began sliding sideways through a harvested field to the east of North CR 450E. While it was sliding, the Trailblazer continued across North CR 450E.
According to court documents, after crossing CR 450E, the Trailblazer hit a stop sign and street sign, traveling a short distance before overturning twice. When the vehicle overturned, its two occupants were ejected from the vehicle.
The Trailblazer’s driver, later identified as Rowe, was lying outside the vehicle in the roadway. A nine-year-old child was found lying in a nearby ditch. The child was conscious at the scene, but was complaining of back pain and unable to feel their legs.
The child said they were a front seat passenger and were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. They were taken to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital for further treatment.
A KCSO deputy spoke with a witness, who said he heard an “awful noise” and saw a vehicle flying through the air, about four or five feet off the ground. The witness went to the Trailblazer immediately after the accident occurred and found Rowe in the roadway.
A second witness said he saw the Trailblazer disregard a stop sign and travel at a speed significantly faster than the speed limit.
The vehicle’s contents were also thrown from the vehicle. In particular, KCSO deputies found a bottle of whiskey, a smoking pipe and meth.
On April 7, a KCSO deputy spoke with Rowe’s family regarding the child’s condition. The deputy learned the child was transferred to an Indianapolis hospital, where they were going to undergo back surgery for a spinal fuse. The family said there was only a 50% chance the child would regain feeling in their legs.
The child also had a collapsed lung and two fractured scapulae. Rowe was on a ventilator on April 7 following the accident. The major noted injury for Rowe was a neck injury compromising an artery that carries blood to the brain.
Airbag control module diagnostics on the Trailblazer revealed it was traveling at 98 miles per hour five seconds prior to the airbags being deployed. Both Rowe and the child’s seatbelts were recorded as unbuckled. The brake switch indicated applied brakes were off for the entire five seconds prior to the airbags being deployed.
Blood results for Rowe showed her BAC was equivalent to 0.11 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of her blood. She also tested positive for meth and marijuana.
Rowe was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Aug. 2.
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