Michael Scott Goble

Allegedly high on synthetic marijuana, a 21-year-old Warsaw man is lucky his carelessness behind the wheel did not claim a child’s life.

Michael Scott Goble, 21, 630 S. Zimmer Rd., Warsaw, was arrested Monday for operating while intoxicated after he blatantly disregarded the stop arm of a school bus while children were attempting to cross the road.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Sgt. Rick Shepherd witnessed the incident at 3:32 p.m. on CR 100 East near CR 450 North, Warsaw. Shepherd observed a southbound vehicle, driven by Goble, disregard the school bus and continue past the officer’s patrol vehicle.

When Goble was pulled over, he told Sgt. Shepherd he thought only cars behind the school bus were required to stop. Mark Baumgardner was driving bus 95-03 for Warsaw Community Schools. He told the officer the children had exited the bus when he saw Goble’s vehicle approaching and not slowing down. Baumgardner started honking the school bus horn, which stopped the children from crossing the road and likely prevented a tragedy.

Sgt. Shepherd observed Goble’s eyes to be bloodshot and his speech “mumbled” and “hard to understand.” The officer also saw several empty alcohol containers in the vehicle and noticed a faint odor of alcohol. Goble was asked to step out of the car and take a field sobriety test.

Sgt. Shepherd noticed a green tint on Goble’s tongue while issuing a portable breath test. The tint, according to police, is common for someone who recently smoked marijuana or synthetic marijuana.

The portable test provided a result of .127 BAC and Goble agreed to go to the hospital for a chemical test. That test result came back at .09 BAC, at which time he was arrested for operating while intoxicated and issued a citation for disregarding the stop arm of a school bus.

While being booked at the Kosciusko County Jail, jail officer Travis Nichols noticed a package that dropped from Goble’s pants. The package turned out to be synthetic marijuana.

“This is a prime example of the dangerous and/or impaired drivers that are out there daily unknown to most of the public, or even law enforcement,” said KCSD Public Information Officer Sgt. Chad Hill.

Goble was arrested and held on a $550 cash bond.