BROWN COUNTY, Ind. — An investigation is underway after a woman drove into the Brown County IGA store on Sunday evening, killing the man who was riding with her.
Around 11 p.m., Brown County Sheriff’s Deputies said they were called to the store and found a Chevrolet Trailblazer had plowed through an outer wall.
Investigators identified the driver as 41-year-old Amanda Beaver and say alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash. Her male passenger, who has yet to be identified, was pronounced dead on scene.
“So reckless, so inconsiderate, and not even thinking of the repercussions of what could happen, and what obviously now has happened,” Amy Jayne said.
FOX59 received a tip that Beaver was also behind the wheel when a car rammed into a Speedway gas station on March 26.
When first responders arrived there that evening, they saw that a piece of clothing on top of the car was burning. It was extinguished by the Speedway employee.
Police said the driver of the car was outside of the vehicle by the time they arrived. According to investigators, she told officers she was suffering from a mental health crisis and intentionally started a fire in her car before backing into a fuel pump and then driving through the building. The woman admitted to taking an “unknown” amount of prescription medication before the incident.
The woman was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Neither the Brown County Prosecutor, nor the Nashville Police Department would confirm that Beaver was driver in that incident.
As for Sunday’s crash, the grocery store remains closed and plywood has been put up to cover the gaping hole. On Tuesday, a pile of car parts and a mangled crate that was holding propane tanks could be seen outside the store.
An IGA representative said the damage was mostly to office space and no product was damaged.
“The only store that’s here isn’t open,” Jayne said.
The impact of this incident has been pretty significant for the Nashville community. IGA is the only true grocery store in the area. All day Tuesday people could be seen pulling into the store only to see the “Closed” signs and turn right back around.
“I tried calling all day yesterday and got no answer,” Christine Arnold said. “I thought ‘this is really strange.'”
Arnold was one of the many people that showed up Tuesday not knowing what had happened. She has the ability to drive to stores in nearby Bloomington or Columbus, but knows others don’t.
“[For] the local people it’s the only place to go,” Arnold said.
Beaver was booked into the Brown County Jail on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in death, operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in serious bodily injury, operating a vehicle while intoxicated – endangerment, criminal mischief and criminal recklessness.
The Brown County Prosecutor has yet to file formal criminal charges.