A 35-year-old Muncie man with a prior drunk driving conviction allegedly hit a blood alcohol level nearly five times Indiana’s legal limit before deputies pulled him over in Delaware County. According to court documents, Dylan Harnish was driving on a flat tire, slumped across his center console, and later urinated in the front seat of a sheriff’s patrol car on the way to the hospital.
- Preliminary breath test came back at .385%, a reading described in court documents as potentially lethal.
- Deputies reported finding an open bottle of Fris Vodka inside the vehicle.
- Harnish was already out on bond for a separate OWI case set for trial in September.
How the Traffic Stop Unfolded
The investigation began on Friday, May 29, when a Delaware County sheriff’s deputy was asked to assist Daleville police on a possible drunk driver call. A concerned caller reportedly told dispatch that a driver was operating recklessly on a flat tire. Officers stopped the vehicle near the intersection of Walnut and 6th Street in Daleville.
What they found behind the wheel raised immediate concerns. Court documents say one of the responding officers walked up to find Harnish “slumped over the center console from the driver side to the passenger side.” Getting him out of the car was another challenge. He reportedly had to “pull himself” out from behind the wheel and then “lean on the car” just to stay upright.
Signs of Extreme Intoxication
During their roadside conversation, a deputy noted Harnish burped, which the officer described as smelling “extremely strong of an alcoholic beverage.” The deputy wrote that Harnish was showing signs of “extreme intoxication levels.” Inside the vehicle, officers spotted an open bottle of Fris Vodka.
Harnish was asked to participate in a standard sobriety field test, which he failed to complete. A preliminary breath test came back at .385% blood alcohol content. For reference, Indiana’s legal driving limit is .08%, so this reading was nearly five times that figure. According to the report, it’s also considered a potentially lethal level of alcohol intoxication.
An Unforgettable Ride to the Hospital
The deputy placed Harnish in the front seat of the patrol car and drove him to Indiana Ball Memorial Hospital for a legal blood draw. When they arrived, the deputy reported that Harnish had urinated on the patrol car seat and that the liquid had “soaked into the upholstery.” That detail made it into the probable cause documents alongside the field test failure and the breath reading.
This Wasn’t His First Run-In
A check of Harnish’s record showed this isn’t a one-time incident. He was convicted in November 2019 of operating while intoxicated and endangering a person. That earlier case wrapped up with a year of probation and a three-month driver’s license suspension.
He also has an active OWI-related case in Delaware Circuit Court 2. He has been free on bond since January 8, with a jury trial scheduled to begin September 21. The latest preliminary charges in Delaware County include OWI with a previous conviction, a Level 6 felony, plus OWI at .15% BAC or greater, a Class A misdemeanor.
For Hoosier drivers, including those down in Madison, IN and other small communities across the state, the case is a sobering reminder of how dangerous repeat impaired driving can be. A blood alcohol level of .385% isn’t just illegal, it’s a reading the report describes as potentially lethal.
Why This Case Resonates Across Indiana
Indiana law treats repeat OWI offenders more harshly for a reason. With another open OWI case already on his docket, Harnish is facing a stack of legal problems that could ripple for years. For everyone who shared the road with him that Friday afternoon, the bigger story is that nobody got hurt. The flat tire that drew attention to his driving may have been the thing that ended the ride before something worse happened.