NEW CASTLE, Ind. (WISH) — A police vehicle pursuit in Henry County Thursday ended in a head-on collision with an Indiana state trooper.

At 2:40 p.m. Thursday, an Indiana state police trooper was patrolling State Road 109 when he noticed a blue Ford Mustang driving over the speed limit. The trooper checked the vehicle speed and determined he was going 88 MPH in a posted 55 MPH zone. The trooper attempted to initiate a traffic stop of the car. The driver reportedly refused to stop and tried to flee from law enforcement.

A short pursuit ensued northbound on State Road 109 and turned east on U.S. 36 toward Middletown. A trooper stopped ahead of the pursuit and attempted to de-escalate the situation by deploying stop-sticks. The driver saw the trooper, made an abrupt U-turn, and proceeded back towards the pursuing law enforcement vehicles. The driver then crossed the center line, missing a trooper, and collided with a police car head-on near Mechanicsburg Road on U.S. 36. 

Investigators identified the driver of the blue Ford Mustang as Dustin Scott Powell, 34, of Knightstown, Indiana. Powell was transported to a hospital for medical assistance, and then taken to the Henry County Jail where he is preliminary charged with resisting law enforcement.

The trooper whose vehicle was struck by Powell’s Ford Mustang was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.