BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A Monroe County man has been arrested on several felony charges after police say his unsafe driving speed caused a fatal crash while he was high on cocaine.
Joshua Scroggins, 40, was charged this week in Monroe Circuit Court with reckless homicide and several counts of operating while intoxicated on a controlled substance. The charges relate to a 2024 crash that killed 66-year-old John Franklin Skirvin of Bloomington.
Police crews were called around 8 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2024, to the intersection of S. Garrison Chapel Road and W. Gardner Road in Bloomington for a serious car crash. Upon arrival, officers found Scroggins injured near a white Ford F150 and Skirvin getting treatment near a GMC Sonoma.
Despite lifesaving treatment from EMS responders, Skirvin was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. According to his obituary, Skirvin loved fishing, kayaking and riding his motorcycle and bicycle.
Meanwhile, Scroggins was taken to IU Health Bloomington for his injuries sustained in the crash.
State troopers began to investigate and spoke with several bystanders who saw the crash. One witness said the F150 being driven by Scroggins was moving southbound on S. Garrison Chapel while Skirvin was attempting to turn north from W. Gardner Road in his GMC.
Witnesses told police that the Scroggins’ truck was driving “pretty fast” southbound and eventually collided with Skirvin’s car.
“That one truck just came so fast while he was turning and just blew him away,” one person said.
One trooper began looking through Scroggins’ car and found medication bottles “in plain view,” as well as a “multicolored shiny bag that indicated it was marijuana.” Police then reportedly found several empty weed containers in the bag and a THC vape pen near the driver’s side door.
Back at the hospital, Scroggins was receiving treatment for his injuries when troopers asked for implied consent to do a blood draw. Then, court documents state that “Scroggins spontaneously uttered, without being provoked or questioned, that he had consumed cocaine two days prior.”
After troopers reportedly told Scroggins “that he should not say anything else,” the suspect said he “just wanted to be honest” and that “because he had used cocaine two days prior, it wouldn’t show up in his blood.”
However, toxicology results came back on March 21 and showed that Scroggins was driving with both cocaine and Benzoylecgonine in his blood.
An autopsy of Skirvin conducted on Feb. 8, 2024, concluded that he died from multiple blunt force injuries, and his manner of death was listed as an accident.
Police now say Scroggins was the primary cause of the crash due to his “unsafe speed” as he approached the intersection.
“I believe that Scroggin’s operated his motor vehicle in such a reckless manner that it resulted in the homicide of John Skirvin,” one trooper wrote.
Scroggins was arrested on Tuesday and booked into Monroe County Jail. He has since been charged in Monroe Circuit Court 9 with the following:
- Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated – Level 4 Felony
- Causing Death When OWI; Controlled Substance – Level 4 Felony
- Reckless Homicide – Level 5 Felony
- Possession of Marijuana – Class B Misdemeanor
- Possession of Paraphernalia – Class C Misdemeanor
Online court records show Scroggins made an initial court appearance on Wednesday. If convicted of all felonies, he could spend up to 30 years in prison.
Comments are closed.