Cheral Ricketts (A booking photo of Donald Ricketts has not been released)
POSEY CO., Ind. (ADAMS) – ISP officials say that a woman in Indiana crashed into her husband’s car on Monday night while she was intoxicated.
This came as she was picking him up after he allegedly crashed his car while also intoxicated.
According to the Indiana State Police, 56-year-old Donald Ricketts was out driving drunk on Monday night, when he crossed the center line and struck a tractor-trailer headed in the opposite direction. Thankfully, the other driver wasn’t hurt. After the crash, Donald called his wife and asked her to pick him up.
55-year-old Cheral Ricketts got to the scene and then crashed into Donald’s car – which was still in the middle of the road.
Both of their vehicles were totaled. ISP officials say that they both failed field sobriety tests after the cops arrived. Donald was later found to have a blood alcohol content level of .28, and Cheral was at .22. So about three times the legal limit for both.
Indiana State Police released the following:
Monday night at approximately 8:24 p.m., Indiana State Police and Posey County Sheriff’s Office responded to a three-vehicle crash on SR 165 approximately ½ mile north of I-64. When officers arrived, they discovered two of the drivers involved were husband and wife and alcohol was a contributing factor.
Preliminary investigation by Indiana State Police revealed Donald Ricketts, 56, of Poseyville, was driving his 2019 Nissan Frontier north on SR 165 when he drove left of center and struck the driver’s side of a tractor-trailer that was traveling south on SR 165. After the collision occurred, which was a short distance from Ricketts’ residence, Ricketts allegedly contacted his wife to pick him up at the crash site. Moments later, before police arrived, Cheral Ricketts, 55, was driving her 2014 Nissan south on SR 165 when she collided into her husband’s vehicle, which was still in the roadway from the previous crash. Both Ricketts’ vehicles were totaled.
When officers arrived on scene, Donald and Cheral Ricketts displayed signs of impairment and failed field sobriety tests. Cheral Ricketts was taken to Deaconess Gibson Hospital by Indiana State Police where a preliminary test revealed she had a BAC of .22%. She was later taken to the Posey County Jail where she is currently being held on bond. Donald Ricketts was also taken to Deaconess Gibson Hospital where a preliminary test revealed he had a BAC of .28%. He was admitted for a medical issue that is not life-threating. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.
This is an on-going investigation.
Investigating Officers: Sergeant Russ Werkmeister, Trooper Zack Fulton and Trooper Alex Vennekotter, Indiana State Police
*Indiana State Police remind that all charges are merely allegations, and all criminal defendants should be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
