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Southern Indiana car pursuit leads to manhunt

Illuminated blue police lights atop a police cruiser. ten Rehder/picture alliance via Getty Images)

LYNNVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A multicounty pursuit in southern Indiana Thursday led to a manhunt that remains ongoing, Indiana State Police said Friday.

Thursday evening, an Evansville police officer attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation on I-64 in Warrick County. The officer initiated a pursuit with the vehicle after the driver refused to pull over.

During the pursuit, the suspect threw a gun out of the vehicle, police say.

The pursuit continued from I-64 onto southbound U.S. 231 in Spencer County. Due to the vehicle’s erratic driving behavior, the pursuit was terminated.

Spencer County law enforcement later discovered the vehicle abandoned and disabled in the southbound lane of U.S. 231, just south of State Road 62. Police say the vehicle, which was determined to be stolen, smelled of marijuana. An additional handgun was located in the vehicle.

Witnesses said they saw four people run from the vehicle, but lost sight of them. All suspects were considered armed and dangerous at the time.

As the search for the suspect continued, police were alerted to a suspicious vehicle in Lincoln City with Kentucky plates. After the vehicle was located and stopped, police determined that the driver, Kyra Newsom, of Louisville, was summoned to the area to pick up the suspects.

Newsom was arrested for assisting a criminal and taken to the Spencer County Jail.

Police were later alerted to another suspicious vehicle believed to have been contacted to pick up the suspects, who were believed to still be hiding in the area. After stopping the vehicle, police arrested the driver, Ronald Spencer Rodriguez, and the passenger, Andrew Carter, for assisting a criminal. They were taken to the Spencer County Jail.

The original suspects have not been located, police say.

Police urge anyone who sees suspicious individuals to not approach them and to call 911.

The suspects do not have ties to the Spencer County area, police say, and will likely leave the area at the first opportunity.