(La Porte County, IN) - La Porte County Police showed up just as he was leaving a crash after allegedly driving while impaired.

 

Kyle Graves, 31, has been charged in La Porte Circuit Court with Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated, upgraded to a Level 6 felony because of a prior OWI conviction.

 

According to court documents, on the night of January 16th Graves ended up in a ditch along County Road 300 North at U.S. 421 just outside Michigan City. There, he reportedly called a family member in Westville who showed up and left with Graves in the front passenger seat.  They didn’t get far, though, until they were passed by a responding officer, who then turned around and followed them into a nearby parking lot.

 

Per authorities, Graves of Valparaiso admitted to being the driver of the vehicle in the ditch and consuming alcohol, explaining that he slid off the road after hitting a patch of ice. His alleged blood alcohol level was .172 percent.

 

Court records show Graves was convicted of OWI in 2022 in Porter County.

 

He received 180 days of unsupervised probation and a 20-day suspension of his driver’s license.