Background:The Hancock County Jail in Greenfield, Indiana (Google Maps). Inset: Jay Messer (Hancock County Sheriff's Office).
An Indiana man is accused of driving drunk and under the influence of pills and threatening to kill another couple on the road.
Jay Messer, 50, faces several charges, including three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, intimidation, pointing a firearm at another person, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show he is being held in the Hancock County Jail under a $200,000 cash bond.
On Dec. 25, 2025, Christmas Day, a man and woman were driving east on 79th Street in Indianapolis behind a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, per court documents obtained by joint Fox and CBS affiliates WXIN and WTTV. The Jeep stopped at a stop sign and, "after several rotations of it being the driver's turn to go," didn't move, so the man drove around and continued east into Hancock County, an eastern suburb of the metropolis.
The man in the Jeep — later identified as Messer — apparently did not like this action, as he yelled at the couple as they drove off. He allegedly took such issue with their maneuver that he began following them — "swerving" his vehicle in pursuit.
Eventually, the couple had to come to a stop at a different stop sign, and Messer reportedly pulled up behind them, pointed a gun, and yelled out the window, "I will f—ing kill you."
The man and woman drove away — not before the wife took a picture of Messer's license plate — and they are believed to have left the suspect behind. But he continued driving in a reckless manner, as authorities tell it.
At about 2 p.m., someone called 911 to report a disturbance inside a black Jeep Grand Cherokee in McCordsville Sports Park, about a 20-mile drive east of 79th Street in Indianapolis. The SUV pulled onto State Road 67 and proceeded to swerve in and out of lanes, police said.
Officers pulled the vehicle over, and Messer allegedly stepped out — though he "had trouble standing up," the court documents added. There was more: He had "urinated in his pants," according to authorities.
Police searched Messer and reportedly found ammo for a Winchester .380, an envelope with a "large amount" of cash, and "various" drugs inside four pill containers, including Alprazolam — otherwise known as Xanax — and Clonazepam, another central nervous system depressant.
Law enforcement asked the suspect whether he had been drinking, to which he confessed he had "a little alcohol" while he was on "many medications," the local TV stations reported. When given a breath test, he allegedly blew 0.250, more than three times the legal limit.
Furthermore, Messer is said to have had three guns inside his Jeep: a Glock 42, a loaded MP Smith & Wesson, and a Ruger .380. Officers also allegedly found a "blue bag containing what appeared to be cremated human remains." Authorities later heard from the woman in the car with her husband and tied the two situations together.
The suspect was detained, and after being taken to an area hospital, he was booked into the Hancock County Jail. Court records show he has a pretrial conference in his case set for March 5.
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