A Natural Resources and Environmental Management graduate assistant was arrested early Sunday morning.
Lanette K. Erby was preliminarily charged with one count of public intoxication and one count of disorderly conduct.
Officer Jaime L. Burris was dispatched to Ricker's Gas Station at 500 E. Wysor St. around 3:30 a.m. after Erby allegedly caused problems inside the store.
The sales clerk said Erby came into the store, went behind the counter and turned the lights off in the building, according to the arrest report.
The clerk said Erby then went up to a black female customer in an "aggressive manner" and then went toward a handicapped man after he asked Erby what she was doing, according to the report.
Both customers were gone before police arrived.
According to the report, Erby smelled strongly of an alcoholic beverage, slurred her speech, appeared to be unsteady on her feet and had bloodshot eyes. A preliminary breath test showed Erby's BAC to be .199 percent.
Burris said in the arrest report that she asked Erby where she lived after she arrived on the scene. After she answered, Burris asked her what she was doing at Ricker's. Erby said she "wanted to be there and she was only three blocks away from home," according to the report. After Burris told her she was halfway across town, Erby said she was lying and yelled that she was going home and nobody was going to stop her.
The report said Erby started to say she was being harassed and that she didn't do anything wrong. She then began yelling "everyone is lying" and "the police should be out getting the real criminals." The report said Erby kept yelling after being told to be quiet repeatedly and then she was taken into custody, handcuffed, searched and transported to jail.
The report said no witness statements were obtained because the customers were gone before Burris' arrival and the clerk could not write in English to do a witness statement.
According to the Ball State website, Erby is teaching this fall in a lab section — NREM 101L.
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