The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an Evansville man following an early-morning vehicle pursuit that crossed multiple jurisdictions, reached speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour, and ended at a north-side apartment complex.
In the early-morning hours on Friday, an Evansville Police Department officer located a Ford Econoline van that had been reported stolen the previous day traveling northbound on N. U.S. 41. When officers attempted a traffic stop, the van fled.
Deputies and Evansville Police officers relocated the van a short time later at a gas station near U.S. 41 and Petersburg Road. The van fled the lot, nearly striking a marked police unit, and continued northbound on U.S. 41. Speeds reached 100 mph as the vehicle entered Gibson County.
Vanderburgh County deputies discontinued their pursuit at Interstate 64, and Gibson County Sheriff’s Office deputies continued to follow the vehicle.
The van later turned back toward Vanderburgh County, traveling east on I-64 and then south on I-69, where it lost a rear tire. The vehicle exited the interstate and, after a series of turns through city streets, drove through grass into the Bradford Pointe Apartments complex.
An adult female passenger exited the still-moving vehicle and fell to the ground, and the driver fled on foot as the van continued to roll. The unoccupied van struck a fence and an electrical box next to an apartment building, damaging both.
The driver was taken into custody a short distance away near E. Franklin Street and Rotherwood Avenue. A Sheriff’s Office K-9 was deployed during the foot pursuit but did not make physical contact with the suspect, who surrendered.
The woman reported minor pain and was evaluated by medics at the scene. According to the probable cause affidavit, she told deputies she had repeatedly asked the driver to stop and to let her out of the vehicle during the pusuit, and that he refused.
The driver, identified as Zachary Aaron Brown, 33, of Evansville, was transported to the Vanderburgh County Jail.
He has been charged with confinement, resisting law enforcement, reckless driving, and criminal mischief.
He is being held without bond pending an initial court appearance. Charged related to the theft of the motor vehicle will be filed at a later date by the Evansville Police Department.
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