From Local Sources

EVANSVILLE — The Evansville Courier reports a Jasper man was arrested after Evansville police said he violated Gov. Eric Holcomb’s stay-at-home order.

Jordan D. Cochran, 28, 257 Brucke Strasse, Jasper, called dispatchers multiple times in the early morning hours Sunday asking to be taken to another location, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Evansville Police Department.

Dispatchers and officers told him that they were unable to do so because of concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus.

Taxi drivers were sent to him multiple times, but they were unable to locate him because he kept moving to different spots, police said. Cochran would then call 911 again with the same request.

On the ninth phone call, Cochran requested an officer, who was dispatched to the 1900 block of Hirschland Road.

Cochran, who was standing next to a bank ATM, asked the officer to drive him somewhere because he was cold. The officer, repeating what dispatchers and police previously told the man, said he could not.

The officer instead told Cochran to walk to a nearby gas station to see if he could use the phone there to call a cab. The man was also given directions to a hotel.

Police said Cochran was informed that he was violating the state’s stay-at-home order and needed to go to the hotel. He was also told to stop calling 911 unless there was an emergency.

Shortly after the officer left, the man reportedly called dispatchers again, saying he was dizzy and needed to go to the hospital. Emergency medical crews examined the man and determined he did not need medical attention.

He was booked into Vanderburgh County’s jail around 4:40 a.m. Sunday on misdemeanor charges of violating the order and making improper 911 calls.

During a Monday appearance in Vanderburgh Superior Court, Cochran pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in county jail in a sentence that was suspended on the condition he has no new violations involving the 911 system or the disaster declaration for one year. Fines and costs were waived and Cochran was released on his own recognizance.