Police officers in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrested a 48 year old man in the early morning hours on Thursday after he drove a pickup truck off of a building at the Eli Lilly campus in Indianapolis.
According to the incident report obtained by Indy Star, an officer spotted the pickup truck while sitting at the English Avenue and Sherman Drive intersection. He heard the tires squeal as the driver sped while making a turn on Sherman, which prompted the officer to follow the truck.
A short while after the officer started following the truck, the driver noticed the squad car, and picked up his speed, running two stop signs in the process. The officer then activated his car’s sirens and lights.
Instead of pulling over, the driver increased his speed and ran two more stop signs and a traffic light, completely ignoring the officer. The reckless driving almost caused the driver to hit another car, but the other driver was spared when the truck missed his car.
The driver continued to avoid the officers, leading them on a high speed chase through the streets of downtown Indianapolis. The driver then started heading towards the Eli Lilly campus. As he approached the metal gate at the entrance of the campus, he decided to increase his speed instead of slowing down, and crashed through the campus gate.
The speed he hit the gate with was too much for the truck to handle, and it fell over a 30 foot ledge, effectively ending the chase. According to officers at the scene, the truck flipped over multiple times, which led the officers to believe that the driver was trapped in the truck.
When the paramedics made it to the scene, they were able to remove the driver from the truck. The driver ended up with a broken femur, a cut on his nose, and a busted lip.
The driver was taken to the Eskenazi Hospital for treatment. The police officers discovered that the truck was stolen, adding auto theft to the charges he faces of resisting arrest and operating a vehicle without a license.
