By Eric Williams

The Orange Leader

 

A wreck lands wanted man in jail, after asking off duty paramedic to use his phone.

Thursday evening around 7 p.m., an off duty paramedic noticed a silver Ford Focus being operated  in the area of 16th Street and I-10 with its front bumper hanging off.

The driver pulled into the Modica Brothers parking lot on 16th Street in Orange, and the paramedic stopped to check on the welfare of the driver.

The driver appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance, but he advised the paramedic he was okay and the wreck must have occurred somewhere on the interstate. The driver said he didn’t even notice that his bumper had been hanging off the car.

The paramedic said, “I felt the driver had to be under the influence of something by the behavior he was displaying”.

The subject asked the paramedic if he could use his phone being he needed to call someone for help.

The unidentified paramedic told the person to give him a few minutes he needed to charge his phone, but worrying about the safety of the driver the paramedic contacted Orange Police about the drivers erratic behavior. The driver attempted several times to leave the scene, but his vehicle was disabled.

Once Orange Police Officer L.T. Holland arrived, the driver was identified as Clay Warren Copeland, 30, of Orange.

After running a check it was found Copeland had a possession warrant out of County Court at Law 2.

Copeland was arrested for the outstanding warrant and transported to the Orange County Jail.

EDIT: Story corrected to delete information concerning several baggies of a white substance was found in the vehicle. Upon review of the officer’s body cam, it showed several plastic baggies were found but were empty. Copeland was arrested for the outstanding possession warrant out of County Court at Law 2