Daily Journal staff reports
Police are searching for a motorist who struck a woman in a Franklin parking lot.
Montoya Jones, 42, Franklin, was pushing a shopping cart through the Northwood Plaza parking lot, off of U.S. 31, around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. While looking for her vehicle, a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle backed up and ran over Jones’ left leg, according to an accident report from the Franklin Police Department.
Jones yelled at the motorist to stop, but the vehicle kept backing up. Then the driver pulled forward, running over Jones’ leg again, according to the report.
A witness told police the driver left the parking lot without stopping, according to the report.
Jones was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Franklin police are searching for the driver and continuing to investigate.
Officials: Greenwood police need new equipment
New cars, Tasers and body cameras are all on the Greenwood Police Department’s wish-list, but city officials aren’t sure yet how to pay for about $500,000 in new equipment.
Every year, ammunition and body armor is routinely replaced for officers, Greenwood Police Chief John Laut said.
But this summer, police and city officials also are trying to budget for new vehicles, which is expected to cost more than $200,000. Five to seven police cars have more than 100,000 miles and need to be replaced, Laut said. New police cars cost about $33,000 each after equipment is installed and decal work is done, Laut said.
The department also needs new Tasers, since the current ones are between 10 and 15 years old and are no longer made, Laut said.
Officials are looking into a program to buy new body cameras, which would also come with new Tasers. The Tasers and body cameras would be synced so that the camera would record when the Taser was pulled out.
The new Tasers and cameras, plus unlimited video storage for the video, is expected to cost about $300,000 over five years.
“The technology is great — it’s a great idea,” Mayor Mark Myers said. “But where are we going to get that funding?”
Voters should be looking for registration postcards soon
Residents will soon find a postcard in their mailbox as part of a statewide effort to update voter registration lists.
Postcards are being sent out by the Indiana Secretary of State’s office as part of an attempt to update the state’s voter registration list and find any record that is outdated or invalid, according to a news release from the Secretary of State’s office.
If a postcard arrives and is addressed to a former resident, people should write “no longer lives here,” then send the card back. If the address information is accurate, voters don’t need to do anything.
“Updating these records helps us create a more accurate picture of voter turnout for the state, while protecting the integrity of our elections,” Secretary of State Connie Lawson said in the news release.
“Hoosiers deserve to know we have accurate voter lists.”
During the last election cycle in 2014, the post card program confirmed that 731,585 records either were invalid or needed updated, the release said.
