JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. – A Facebook Live video broadcast has resulted in new criminal charges for a man who was already serving time in the Johnson County Jail.
Prosecutor Brad Cooper says 28-year-old Indianapolis resident Jessie Hizer was driving to Johnson County court on January 23 to be sentenced in an unrelated case. He was scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty to Resisting Law Enforcement.
On the way from Indianapolis to Franklin, prosecutors say Hizer began broadcasting live video of himself driving to the court hearing. In the video, Hizer can be heard complaining about speeding drivers on I-65. At one point in the video, investigators say the camera turns to show Hizer’s own speedometer as it approaches 100 miles per hour.
“Hey y’all know I’m doing 100 mile an hour,” Hizer allegedly said in the video. “And mother (expletive) are still, I’m just barely catching up to them.”
Later in the Facebook video, Hizer seems to be responding to a Facebook comment encouraging him to slow down.
“I’m gonna go fast as I want, when I want,” Hizer allegedly said. “I drive my truck, I’m in control. I’m gonna hit the pedal when I want to hit the pedal.”
Cooper said Hizer shouldn’t have been driving at all, because he is a repeat traffic offender and his driver’s license is currently suspended. Online court records show Hizer has been charged with driving on a suspended license 10 times over the last decade.
“It never ceases to amaze me what people will do on Facebook,” Cooper said. “And all the while he is doing this, he is videotaping it and broadcasting it live on his Facebook page.”
Hizer allegedly continued broadcasting live video as he arrived at court and sat down in the courtroom. The use of cameras is prohibited inside Indiana courts.
Hizer was sentenced to 180 days in the Johnson County Jail and was given two days to take care of personal matters before turning himself in to the jail.
Cooper says Hizer began broadcasting live video again while driving home from the courthouse. In the video, prosecutors say Hizer can be heard complaining about the court system and the attorney who represented him in the resisting case.
“Decided he would make it really easy for us to discover what he was doing by posting his crimes on Facebook,” Cooper said.
Hizer had already begun serving his 180-day sentence from the resisting case when investigators with the prosecutor’s office discovered the Facebook video and took it in as evidence. The office has now charged Hizer with additional charges of reckless driving and driving while suspended.
“He’s videotaping himself committing crimes. So now we’re going to charge him with those crimes,” Cooper said. “You can’t legislate stupid.”
