SCOTTSBURG, Ind. — A southern Indiana man was arrested after he allegedly stole a police car and led officers on a high-speed chase Thursday morning.
Around 1:30 a.m. March 21, officers with the Scottsburg City Police Department were investigating an unrelated call at the I-65 Studio Suites Hotel near Exit 29 in Scottsburg when a man stole a marked police car in the hotel parking lot and drove away, according to a release from Indiana State Police.
Shortly thereafter, officers found the stolen police car traveling southbound on I-65 a few miles south of the city. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver continued to flee southbound, sometimes traveling over 100 mph.
As the driver continued to flee, Scott County and Clark County officers, as well as trooper from the Indiana State Police - Sellersburg Post, joined the pursuit.
Officers deployed stop-stick tire deflation devices two times in Clark County; however, despite damage to the tires, authorities said the driver continued southbound at speeds approaching 140 mph.
As officers were about to try a new maneuver to stop the vehicle, police said the driver lost control of the car, veering into the concrete median barrier around the 3 mile marker, near Eastern Boulevard. The car came to a stop as it scraped against the barrier wall.
The driver got out of the car through the passenger side door shortly after the crash. Officers then used a taser to subdue the driver when authorities say he refused to follow commands.
Police took the 44-year-old man from Austin, Indiana, into custody, and he was medically cleared before he was booked in the Scott County Jail.
(NOTE: 13News does not name suspects until formal charges are filed by prosecutors.)
The suspect was cited for numerous traffic offenses and arrested on the following preliminary charges:
- Theft of a motor vehicle
- Resisting law enforcement with a vehicle
- Unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle
- Resisting law enforcement
- Aggressive driving, unsafe operation
- Reckless driving
- Driving while suspended
