RICHMOND — Former Berea City Council member Troy VanWinkle, 35, was indicted Wednesday by a Madison grand jury for allegedly endangered a police officer during an April confrontation.

VanWinkle is charged with first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree fleeing or evading police.

Around 2:30 a.m. on April 1, Lt. Jason Hays of the Berea Police Department was busy detaining an individual in his cruiser when VanWinkle and his spouse entered the police department parking lot in two separate vehicles, engaged in what police described as a “rolling domestic.”

The couple had been “arguing and fighting” and VanWinkle’s wife probably knew that coming to the police department would be a way to defuse the situation, said Berea Police Chief David Gregory.

The two had positioned their vehicles on either side of a police cruiser when the officer saw what appeared to be an open container of alcohol in Troy VanWinkle’s vehicle, Gregory said.

“The officer was not positive if he had seen an open container of alcohol,” the chief said, “this happened in a matter of seconds.”

VanWinkle denied that he had been drinking when Hays questioned him, according to Gregory.

Hays then reportedly asked VanWinkle to exit his vehicle, but instead of complying with the officer, he restarted his truck, the police report stated.

When Hays realized VanWinkle intended to leave, he reached inside the vehicle and grabbed the driver’s arm, but Troy VanWinkle drove away “at a very high rate of speed” with Hays clinging to his arm, Gregory said.

VanWinkle turned left onto Chestnut Street while “the officer was still trying to hold on and was yelling for him to stop,” according to the police report.

The officer let go of VanWinkle’s arm because he was “afraid of being run over,” Gregory said.

Other officers were dispatched to locate VanWinkle but were unsuccessful, the report states.

Because Hays already knew the subject, he filed paperwork with the county attorney, and a criminal summons was issued.

If convicted, VanWinkle could serve a maximum of five years in prison for each charge.

In other indictments:

• Leslie Dawn Lark, first-degree assault and first-degree wanton endangerment. Lark is accused of causing serious physical injury to Jeffery Cornelison and creating a substantial danger of death or serious injury to Samantha Cornelison on Feb. 10. Commonwealth's Attorney David Smith said the incident was a car wreck in Berea.

Lark was arrested Feb. 10 and charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol according to jail records, however she was not indicted on this charge Wednesday.

• Raymond K. McCollum, three counts of second-degree burglary, third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree persistent felony offender. On June 10 through June 13, McCollum unlawfully entered three homes with the intent to commit a crime, the indictment states.

• Ronald Joe Courtney, second-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief. On May 18, Courtney entered and caused damage to home, according to the indictment.

• William Joe Creech, third-degree burglary. The indictment states Creech unlawfully entered a garage Aug. 20 on South Robbins Court with the intent to commit a crime.

• Michael S. Walling, and Ashley R. Hernandez, 25, manufacturing methamphetamine. Walling was indicted as a first-degree persistent felony offender, which makes his charge a Class A felony, punishable by 20 years to life in prison.  

• Joseph F. Hurt, theft by unlawful taking (over $500) and first-degree persistent felony offender. On Jan. 13, Hurt is accused of taking an automobile from Malachy Feeney, according to the indictment. The charge of persistent felony offender would bump the punishment range for the crime up to a Class B felony, punishable by a maximum of 10 to 20 years in prison.

• Billy E. Ramey, theft by unlawful taking (less than $10,000). On Nov. 4, 2011, Ramey is accused of stealing property from Walmart.

• Allison Barnard, theft by unlawful taking (less than $10,000) and theft by deception. On Jan. 2 and Jan. 9, Barnard is accused of entering a home and taking items and later trying to pawn them as her own.

• French Myers, theft by deception. Myers was indicted as a first-degree persistent felony offender, which makes his charge a Class B felony, punishable by a maximum of 20 years to life in prison.  

• Keith Anthony Cates, first-degree trafficking in controlled substance. On Feb. 15 and 16, Cates is accused of selling 10 methadone tablets.

• Jack S. VanWinkle, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance. On May 9, VanWinkle is accused of selling four oxycodone tablets.

• Terrell Deon Chase, first- and third-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and trafficking in marijuana. On June 11, Chase is accused of possessing 20 oxycodone, 45 Xanax and 18 grams of marijuana with the intention of trafficking.

• Ricky D. Adams and Lisa A. Smith, first-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia (Smith only). On June 18, two are accused of possessing methamphetamine. Smith also is accused of possessing four syringes to inject the controlled substance.

• Ryan T. Cooper, first-degree possession of a controlled substance. On June 21, Cooper is accused of possessing a quantity of cocaine.

• Angel Lynn Bishop, first-degree possession of a controlled substance. On May 4, Bishop is accused of possessing a quantity of oxymorphone.

• Miranda Northern, first-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. On May 1, Bishop is accused of possessing a quantity of oxycodone, syringes and a bottle cap “items used to facilitate the ingestion of controlled substances,” according to the indictment.

• Robin Darlene Fee, three counts of flagrant nonsupport. Fee is accused of owing $3,000 in back child support, according to the indictment.

• Timothy W. Fryer and Jo A. Isaacs, criminal possession of a forged prescription and first-degree persistent felony offender. The charge of persistent felony offender bumps the punishment range for the crime up to a Class B felony, punishable by a maximum of 10 to 20 years in prison.

• Thuy Helton, false statement or misrepresentation to receive benefits of more than $100. On July 1, Helton is accused of knowingly withholding information about her income from the Madison County Department for Community Based Services in order to receive supplemental nutrition assistance program and Medicaid benefits.

• Treena Brazier, Terry Colbert, Johnny Seals, Michael Hutchings, Michael Turner and Peggy Willoughby all received separate indictments for the charge of bail jumping, a Class D felony.

An indictment is a formal statement of charges and does not imply guilt.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.