Chase of Indianapolis auto theft suspect ends with arrest, crash in southern Indiana
AUSTIN, Ind. (WISH) — A law-enforcement chase of an auto theft suspect that began on I-65 near Seymour ended with an Indianapolis man’s arrest after a crash with a police truck Tuesday in Scott County, Indiana State Police says.
Nicholas Nature Lewis, 20, was in the Scott County jail in Scottsburg on Tuesday afternoon on preliminary felony charges that included auto theft and resisting law enforcement.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department early Tuesday morning had reported a maroon Dodge Charger SRT had been stolen and may be southbound on I-65.
About 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, an Indiana State Police sergeant and trooper and a Seymour Police Department officer attempted to stop the southbound car near the I-65 exit for U.S. 50 at the Jackson County city of Seymour. The car, though, sped away “at an extremely high rate of speed,” said a news release issued Tuesday afternoon from state police.
Seymour is about a 70-minute drive south of Indianapolis.
“The officers gave chase and tried to catch up with the vehicle but lost sight of the Charger in southern Jackson County,” the release said.
A short time later, an Indiana State Excise Police officer found the car at a gas station near the I-65 exit for U.S. 31 and the Jackson County town of Crothersville, about a 17-mile drive south of Seymour. The car’s driver again sped away, this time on U.S. 31 and into Scott County.
Police tried to put out tire-deflating devices on U.S. 31 near Booe Road on the north edge of the city of Austin. That’s about 2 miles south of the I-65 interchange for U.S. 31 at Crothersville, and a 35-minute drive north of Louisville, Kentucky.
As the Charger approached, it hit a Crothersville Police Department truck, and both vehicles came to rest on the southwest side of U.S. 31 and Booe Road.
Lewis was caught a short time later after fleeing on foot along nearby railroad track.
The news release did not list any injuries as a result of the crash.
Online court documents on Tuesday afternoon did not show a case for Lewis.
