An Indianapolis Uber driver is facing drug-related charges after he transported a passenger while intoxicated through New Whiteland.
Prosecutors charged Mark Allen Atchison with felony methamphetamine possession, and two misdemeanors of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and possession of paraphernalia, according to a Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office news release.
New Whiteland police pulled Atchison over for speeding on U.S. 31, and noticed a strong odor of burnt marijuana coming from the car, according to the news release. The officer asked to see both Atchison and the back-seat passenger’s IDs, but the passenger said she didn’t have any identification on her and that Atchison was her Uber driver.
Officers conducted several field sobriety tests, all of which Atchison failed, and a blood draw before arresting him, the news release said.
“The purpose of ride sharing is to avoid this exact scenario. I take a dim view of when someone is being responsible and doing the right thing and then endangered by someone else’s actions,” Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said in the news release.
Uber drivers must undergo a background check, and cannot have been convicted of a felony or violent crime in the past seven years or be a registered sex offender. In April 2018, the company invested in new technology that can identify new criminal offenses via public records or pending DUI charges as they happen, flagging Uber to investigate and review a driver’s standing with the company.
If sentenced on all charges and ordered to serve them separately, Atchison, 56, could face up to three years in jail and $11,000 in fines.
