By Joe Gerrety
jgerrety@journalandcourier.com

A Lafayette woman charged with drunken driving in connection with a fatal crash in Benton County on Saturday night now faces a felony battery charge for allegedly kicking a nurse at St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

Amber N. Scearcy, 25, was charged Thursday in Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 with battery on a health care provider, a Class D felony.

According to court documents, Scearcy became combative while she was being treated for minor injuries at St. Elizabeth. At least two nurses were attempting to restrain Scearcy when Scearcy broke free and kicked nurse Melissa Trownsell three times in the face.

According to an affidavit, Trownsell's glasses were broken, and she suffered scratches on her cheek.

Scearcy is charged in Benton County with drunken driving causing death and several other felonies in connection with a crash on U.S. 41 near Earl Park that killed wrecker operator Harry L. Fox, 38, of Boswell.

Two teenagers also were injured, along with two adults who were in Scearcy's van.

Police reported Fox was in the process of hoisting a disabled car onto a flatbed wrecker on the side of U.S. 41 when Scearcy's van veered off the road, sideswiping the car and the wrecker.

According to Benton County court records, a blood test showed Scearcy had a blood-alcohol content twice the legal limit after the crash.

Christopher Walker, 17, of Kentland, who was struck along with Fox, suffered the most serious injuries in the crash. He was still in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on Thursday, but a condition was not available.

Along with the battery charge in Tippecanoe County, prosecutors have filed a petition to set a bench trial on an outstanding charge for shoplifting, also in Tippecanoe Superior Court 5.

Judge Les Meade has ordered Scearcy to be held without bond in that case. Scearcy entered a withheld prosecution agreement in that case last June in which prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charge after a year if Scearcy stayed out of trouble.

Among the conditions of the agreement was a requirement that Scearcy not consume any alcohol.