CROWN POINT | A Merrillville attorney has been charged in connection with an incident Friday in which he is alleged to have crashed his car and fled the scene.
Benjamen Murphy, 39, of Schererville, was charged Monday with failure to stop after an accident resulting in nonvehicle damage, a Class B misdemeanor.
He is set for a hearing Dec. 18 before Schererville Town Court Judge Kenneth Anderson, court records state.
Police said they were called at 9:37 p.m. to the 1900 block of Springvale Drive in Schererville, where Murphy is reported to having driven his car through the front lawn and into the backyard, striking a utility box, swing set, wooden deck and a tree.
The homeowner told police she saw a man and a woman flee from a blue 2008 Infinity registered to Murphy, police said. Another woman remained in the backseat of the vehicle, got out and sat on the victim's deck.
An officer and his K-9 partner later found Murphy in the parking lot of Zuni's House of Pizza, 5124 Pine Island Drive, police said.
Officers conducted multiple portable breath tests to determine Murphy's blood alcohol content, police said, but results were inconclusive.
Murphy has been charged in six alcohol-related driving offenses since 2003, according to court records. Two remain pending before Anderson and one is before Lake Superior Court Judge Sheila Moss.
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