On February 12, 2023 city units were dispatched to  Waterview Dr. in reference to a motor vehicle accident. An officer arrived on scene and made contact with James Scott Durham who stated that his front wheel had gone into the ditch while he was trying to turn around in the driveway. A check through dispatch on Mr. Durham’s driver’s license and the registration to the vehicle returned Mr. Durham to be on the sex offender registry and the vehicle that he was driving returned to another individual. The 2011 Jeep Patriot that Mr. Durham was driving was not listed on the sex offender registry as a permitted vehicle for him to drive.

Dispatch also informed the officer that Mr. Durham had an outstanding warrant out of White County. The officer placed Mr. Durham into custody and put him into the back of his patrol car and buckled his seatbelt. As the Jeep Patriot was being taken away by a tow truck, Mr. Durham was yelling and thrashing around in the back seat of the patrol car. The officer opened the door and found Mr. Durham wedged between the seat and the partiti0n of the prisoner compartment with him stating that he couldn’t breathe. Mr. Durham was removed from the vehicle and placed on the ground at which time he started to have what appeared to be a seizure. EMS was called to the scene while another officer joined the original officer and aid was rendered to Mr. Durham.

EMS arrived on scene and Mr. Durham was transported to Cumberland Medical Center for treatment. The arresting officer went to the Cumberland County Justice Center and signed a warrant for a violation of the sex offender registry to be served upon Mr. Durham’s release from the hospital.