The Associated Press
MUNCIE, Ind. — A former police officer received a one-year suspended sentence after authorities say he crashed a squad car while showing off for three female college students riding with him.
Jason S. Lyons pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and interference with reporting a crime as part of an agreement with prosecutors. Muncie City Court Judge Linda Ralu Wolf also sentenced Lyons to one year of unsupervised probation.
Lyons resigned from the police department after the Aug. 28 crash, said Sgt. Michael Engle of the Muncie police.
Police said the six-year department veteran was driving as fast as 70 miles per hour after agreeing to give the Ball State University students a ride back to their dorms from a convenience store near campus. Witnesses said they heard Lyons tell the students to leave the area after hitting a curb and crashing, police said.
Lyons denied to other officers at the scene that he had passengers in the car.
The crash did more than $10,000 damage to the police car and one of the students suffered a head cut, police said.
The Associated Press could not reach Lyons for comment as there were no published listings for Lyons in Muncie.