Warsaw Police Officer Mike Cox looks inside the vehicle pulled from Center Lake yesterday morning.
(Photo by Stacey Page)
The driver of a car that was found underwater in Center Lake Wednesday morning was located “safe at home,” but was brought to the Warsaw Police Department for voluntary questioning.
At just about 8 a.m., a park employee noticed the vehicle in the water and called 911. The vehicle, a Subaru Forester with a Florida license plate, was not occupied. The suspected driver, 20-year-old Ava Donovan, of Warsaw, told police she was driving around, messing with her phone and did not see the lake as she drove north on Buffalo Street sometime between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
During police questioning, however, Donovan said she had hardly slept in the two days prior to the accident and admitted that she had consumed a beer before leaving her apartment. Upset after an argument with her boyfriend, Donovan told police that she had left after her boyfriend had fallen asleep and that he was unaware that she had been drinking or that she left the apartment.
Donovan informed officers that after she had driven into the lake she panicked, exited through her door and swam to shore and then proceeded to walk home from Center Lake to her residence at Kuder Estates where she claimed she had a few shots of Jack Daniels to relax.
Police noted that they could smell the scent of alcohol on Donovan during the interview and requested complete a portable breathalyzer test. Donovan completed the test with a result of .031 percent. Donovan then requested to leave questioning and was escorted out.
Police noted that Donovan’s wet clothing was found during an apartment search and that Donovan stated that the incident was not intentional.
The vehicle, a blue 2008 Subaru Forester registered to the suspected driver’s mother, Lisa Donovan of Newberry, Fla., sank approximately 120 feet off shore. Damages to the vehicle are estimated up to $10,000.
The Warsaw Dive Team, Warsaw Fire Department, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, Multi-Township EMS, Warsaw Police Department and Indiana DNR responded to the scene.
