ANDERSON — Madison Circuit Court Judge Fredrick Spencer appointed on Tuesday a former chief deputy prosecutor to investigate whether a felony charge should be filed against an Anderson city councilman.
Senior Prosecutor J.A. Cummins, a former chief deputy prosecutor in Delaware County, has accepted the appointment. It wasn’t immediately known Wednesday when he will determine if Ollie H. Dixon Sr. should be charged with allegedly possessing a handgun while in a detoxification cell at the Madison County Jail.
Cummins could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
Sheriff Ron Richardson forwarded reports to the prosecutor’s office on Friday asking that Dixon, 60, be charged with prisoner in possession of a dangerous weapon. The charge is a felony punishable by six to 20 years if found guilty. Later that day, Prosecutor Thomas Broderick Jr. requested that a special prosecutor be appointed to review if charges are warranted against Dixon. Dixon’s daughter, Tami Tatum, works in Broderick’s office as office manager.
Cummins has also been appointed as special prosecutor in other instances in Madison County where there might exist a perception of unfairness if Broderick’s office handled the case directly.
Cummins decided not to file a misdemeanor public intoxication charge against Broderick’s son, current Deputy Prosecutor Evan Broderick, after Evan was arrested by Madison County sheriff’s deputies in October 2007. Evan was an investigator for the prosecutor’s office at the time. Cummins is also prosecuting the misdemeanor operating while intoxicated charge against Broderick’s other son, Ryan Broderick, currently a paralegal in the prosecutor’s office. Ryan is scheduled to stand trial May 14 in Elwood City Court.
Prosecutors charged Dixon, D-District 4, last week with a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated. He is also charged with refusing to take a chemical test and failing to signal a turn, both infractions. The most serious charge against him carries a sentence of up to a year behind bars and a $5,000 fine if convicted.
Police were dispatched to Scatterfield Road, near the White River, at about 10:15 p.m. Saturday, March 28, after a motorist spotted a sport-utility vehicle traveling northbound in a southbound lane.
According to a police report, officers stopped Dixon near Seventh Street and Alhambra Drive and quickly suspected he was intoxicated after speaking to him. He was patted down for weapons and taken to the police department. He failed several sobriety tests, and a portable breath test determined his blood-alcohol was 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit to drive in Indiana. He refused to take an official blood-alcohol test, however.
Dixon was then handcuffed, checked for weapons again, and taken to the jail. Guards patted him two more times at the jail, and he was placed in a detoxification cell with another inmate.
At about 11:30 p.m. the inmate indicated to guards that Dixon had a handgun. The gun, a .45-caliber Colt Combat Commander, was removed without incident. The gun was turned over to Anderson police, and has since been released to Dixon. Dixon has a license to carry a handgun.
Contact Shawn McGrath: 640-4883, shawn.mcgrath@heraldbulletin.com
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