Indiana State Police arrested a future Gary murder suspect in Tippecanoe County last week after he left a crash scene and later threw a gun into a ditch, they said.
Dariel E. Dodd, 42, of Gary and Indianapolis, was charged Wednesday in the Jan. 14 death of Norman Bailey, 60, a businessman and Gary school advisory board member.
Bailey was fatally shot near closing time at the Blue Room Lounge, 224 E. 16th Ave., his Gary bar. A second man, 28, was also wounded and survived, police said.
Troopers pulled Dodd over around 9:45 p.m. Jan. 15 for “numerous traffic violations” just north of Lafayette after they got a 911 call for leaving the scene of a crash with property damage 20 miles south outside Lebanon.
Dodd appeared to be intoxicated, according to the trooper. After he tried to throw a handgun into a ditch, he was arrested, according to the release.
The trooper obtained a warrant for a toxicology test, results are pending. Days later, murder charges were filed in the Gary shooting. Dodd is being held at the Tippecanoe County Jail waiting for extradition to Lake County.
In the traffic stop, he was charged with possession of a firearm as a felon, a level 5 felony, obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony, misdemeanor possession of a handgun without a license, two counts of operating while intoxicated and one count of leaving the scene of a crash.
In Bailey’s death, Dodd was charged with murder, attempted murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, aggravated battery and enhancement because a firearm was used in the commission of a crime.
Carole Carlson contributed.
