Off-duty Indy officer was driving drunk with minor in car: Police

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer has been arrested on multiple OWI charges.

A public police report filed Sunday indicates 35-year-old James Ellis Cox was preliminarily charged with operating while intoxicated and operating while intoxicated causing endangerment to a passenger under 18 years of age.

Indiana’s public court reporting system confirms Cox was officially charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing endangerment to a person and operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to at least .08 but less than .15. Both of the charges Cox faces are misdemeanors.

An affidavit for probable cause filed Sunday indicates one of Cox’s fellow IMPD officers was sitting in a squad car in a parking lot near Prospect Street and Southeastern Avenue around 2:19 a.m. Sunday when he heard a car revving its engine. The officer then watched a large gray SUV that was traveling eastbound on Southeastern Avenue pass a white passenger car that was moving in the same direction.

The driver of the SUV swerved into the westbound lanes of Southeastern Avenue to pass the white car.

After observing the incident involving the SUV and the white car, the IMPD officer in the area went after the driver of the SUV. Court records indicate the driver of the SUV may have reached speeds of 80 or 90 mph before he pulled over at the intersection of Southeastern Avenue and Green Rock Lane.

The officer who initiated the traffic stop with the SUV determined its driver was Cox. According to court documents, police also smelled the odor of alcohol coming from Cox’s vehicle.

Police ultimately asked Cox to step out of his car and participate in a few field sobriety tests. Per court records, Cox failed at least three of the tests he was subjected to.

Cox later agreed to take a portable breath test (PBT). The test revealed his BrAC was .087. A certified breath test Cox took at the Criminal Justice Center revealed his BrAC was .084 g/210L.

Police reported that they also observed Cox had been driving with a juvenile in the passenger seat of his car. Cox told law enforcement he and the juvenile were coming home from a playdate downtown.

When officers asked Cox if he had consumed any alcoholic beverages, he told them he’d had two shots of tequila approximately two hours before he was pulled over. According to court documents, Cox also told police he was speeding because the juvenile needed to go to the bathroom.

Previous reporting indicates Cox was implicated in a domestic battery incident in 2021. Records obtained by NewsNation affiliate WXIN show the case was expunged from Cox’s record in 2022.

Additional documentation reports that the Cox listed in the domestic violence case is the same Cox involved in Sunday’s OWI incident.

WXIN has reached out to IMPD for a statement on Cox’s arrest. IMPD has not yet replied to requests for comment.

One of WXIN’s sources, however, confirmed Cox is still an IMPD officer.

Indiana’s public court reporting system indicates an initial hearing has been set for Oct. 22 in Cox’s OWI case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.