Jury finds Indianapolis man guilty of drunk driving, causing fatal crash

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man has been found guilty of causing a fatal crash while intoxicated. According to a press release from the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, a jury turned in a guilty-as-charged verdict against 45-year-old Robert Arthur on Wednesday. The charges he was found guilty of are: According to court records, Arthur is believed to have left the scene of a deadly crash that unfolded near the intersection of Southport Road and East Street during the early morning hours of June 5, 2023. Police reporting on the crash indicates Arthur drove a black Mercedes through a red light and t-boned a minivan. The minivan's driver suffered broken ribs during the crash. Annette Stewart, a passenger in Arthur's Mercedes, was ejected from the vehicle during the crash. On June 8, 2023, she died from the injuries she sustained in the crash. During their investigation, police determined Stewart and Arthur met at a bar before the crash. One of Stewart's family members indicated they had dropped Stewart off at a movie theater before the crash. Police believe Stewart went from the movie theater to Bert and Dens Grille, where she later met Arthur. In a short interview with police, Arthur said he had met a woman wearing all blue clothing at a bar called The Grove during the late evening hours of June 4, 2023. Arthur indicated that the woman may have given him a fake name at the bar. He told police he did not remember the name the woman gave him. During his initial conversation with police, Arthur also indicated that he left the bar with the woman he met. He said he and the woman ended up at a hotel along Keystone Avenue, though he couldn't recall which hotel they went to. During the same conversation, Arthur also indicated that his vehicle was carjacked before he and the woman could make it to the hotel. Arthur claimed that a silver or white Honda pulled up behind him, and its occupants stole his vehicle. Police reported that Arthur provided few additional details on the alleged carjacking during his conversation with them. Investigators indicated that Arthur seemed nervous and was shaking while he gave police his vague story about the carjacking. Police first spoke with Arthur around 11:30 a.m. on June 5, 2023. Officers found Arthur at a residence in the 600 block of Bitter Bark Lane. Law enforcement was actually called to the residence by one of Arthur's family members. The family member wanted police to take a missing persons report related to Arthur. Instead of taking the report, police located and spoke with Arthur at the residence on Bitter Bark Lane. During their investigation, police gathered multiple photos and videos of the black Mercedes Arthur is believed to have driven during the crash. Some of the evidence law enforcement obtained confirmed Arthur's black Mercedes had entered the parking lot of a hotel near Keystone Avenue the morning of the crash. Evidence police gathered also suggested Arthur was at multiple bars before the crash, including Bert and Dens Grille, which is where police believe Stewart met Arthur. Ownership at Bert and Dens Grille indicated that Arthur had left his credit card at the bar at some point. Court documents do not specify exactly when Arthur may have left his credit card at the bar. The management team at another bar, the Silver Bullet, indicated they had seen Arthur during the early morning hours of June 5. Bar security camera video confirmed Arthur had been seen wearing a Boston Celtics jersey at the establishment between 1:07 a.m. and 2:38 a.m. on June 5, 2023. Police also obtained the receipts attached to the credit card transactions Arthur made at the bar. The receipts indicated that Arthur bought a Yuengling Lager, five shots of Don Julio Resposado, three shots of Patron Silver and two Red Bulls. Arthur only signed one of the two receipts police got from the Silver Bullet's ownership team. According to court documents, evidence did not suggest that The Grove was one of the bars Arthur visited on June 5, 2023. Police indicated that The Grove was closed the day Arthur claimed to have met Stewart there. Police also got a search warrant for Arthur's phone data. Location data placed Arthur's phone near the intersection of Stop 11 Road and U.S. Highway 31 around 10:30 p.m. on June 4, 2023. The location is 5.7 miles away from the area where Arthur claimed to have been carjacked between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on June 4, 2023. During conversations with Stewart's family members, police determined Stewart was likely not the person who was driving the black Mercedes at the time of the crash because she was legally blind. None of the witnesses police spoke with provided many specifics about Arthur leaving the scene after the crash. Multiple witnesses police spoke with, however, reiterated that the driver of the black Mercedes involved in the crash ran a red light and struck a minivan that had a green light. The minivan's driver told police that he saw a man who appeared to be in his 50s running around the area and shouting after the crash. The minivan's driver said he had a hard time determining exactly what the man walking around the crash scene was shouting about. Police attempted to conduct a second interview with Arthur on June 8, 2023. Before the interview was supposed to begin, Arthur called investigators and told them he had hired an attorney and was not planning to do a second interview. Arthur's jury trial began on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday. He is due to be sentenced on June 6 at 9 a.m.