By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – We told you about the bizarre incident involving Wabash-resident James Brandon Pinkerton jumping onto and shattering a local man’s windshield on Friday, June 17th on SR 15 just north of Wabash. Witnesses say that a man was running southbound in the middle of the northbound lane near the Honeywell Gold Course before doing a flip on a stopped car, driven by Richard Simpson, Jr., shattering his windshield.
The man who authorities identified to MiBash News as Pinkerton on Monday, June 20th, laid on the car before running south across the golf course toward the industrial park. At the time of our initial report, the charges were pending. We can now report that Pinkerton was charged on June 23rd with criminal mischief as a class A misdemeanor as a result of the incident.
In an affidavit of probable cause by Wabash County Sheriff Department’s Chief Deputy R. M. Miller, Pinkerton laid on the hood and windshield of the car for a full five minutes according to witness Harold Bayless. Another witness to the scene, Loretta Cornwell, apparently told police that she had to pull off onto the grass in order to miss Pinkerton as he ran south on SR 15 before the incident with Simpson’s car. Yet another witness, Karen Eilts, said that Pinkerton was almost hit by bus when he did eventually get off Simpson’s windshield.
Another affidavit by Wabash Police Officer Daniel E. Henderson states that he spotted Pinkerton near the Five Hour Energy facility in the city’s northwest Industrial Park. Officer Henderson pulled his gun and ordered Pinkerton to get on the ground several times. But, according to the affidavit, he just put his hands behind his back and made bizarre statements like it wasn’t him and that his brother did it. As evidence that his brother was the culprit, Pinkerton allegedly said “the sign said so” and claimed his brother was lying in the weeds underneath the sign.
Pinkerton was taken to the Parkview Wabash Hospital the night of the incident for a medical evaluation and at 12:15 that night was medically cleared and released.