Police deploy Bearcat during Monday morning arrest
The Bloomington Police Department arrested a 20-year-old man who had an outstanding warrant issued in Marion County, and used the department’s Critical Incident Response Team and its Bearcat armored vehicle while doing so, according to the BPD.
The man police arrested had a weapons charge stemming from January 2018, when he was accused of possessing a handgun with the serial number removed, according to the BPD. Additional charges from 2018 included carrying a handgun without a license, and possession of marijuana, but those charges were later dismissed, and the man was put on probation, according to the BPD. The most recent warrant was issued November 13th for a violation of probation, according to police.
Scanner traffic indicated the police surrounded the man, who was living in a shed near a house, and broadcast a recorded message on a loudspeaker, which could be heard as police communicated on the radio. Police arrived at approximately 4:40 a.m. in the 1700 block of East Devon Lane, in Bloomington, and made the arrest at about 5:40 a.m, according to the BPD.
Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo said because of the man’s prior weapons charge, the Bearcat was used to provide the greatest possible ballistic protection for officers delivering the arrest warrant. Police used a noise flash diversionary device to disorient the man during the arrest, according to Pedigo. Pedigo said the Bearcat is not used in every deployment of CIRT, but had been used today as a precaution because of the man’s past weapons charges.
Shots fired at UBER car after altercation; man arrested
Police responded to a call of shots fired around 3:30 a.m. on the morning of Sunday the 24th, after a man fired several shots from a revolver at another moving vehicle, according to the Bloomington Police Department.
A woman working for UBER was driving a white 2007 Honda when she picked up several individuals from Night Moves shortly before 3:30 a.m. Sunday. As she was driving them to a residence, she heard two or three shots come from the vehicle behind her, according to the BPD. The woman had hesitated to pick up the individuals because they were involved in an altercation when she arrived at Night Moves, but she had done so anyway, said the police.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office soon pulled over a 2012 Chevy Malibu, which was driven by another woman and carrying two passengers, according to BPD. The driver of the Malibu told the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that they’d been at Night Moves, and one of her passengers got into an argument with some others that were then picked up by an UBER, according to police.
The woman driving the Malibu said one of the men she was with was jumped by several white males, and when he got into her car he told her to follow the UBER car so he could intimidate them, according to the police. She said, that’s when the man pulled out a revolver, pointed it out the passenger window, and began to fire at the car ahead of him, according to the BPD. She said she didn’t know how many shots her passenger fired, but said he then put the gun back in his pocket, according to police.
Officers were given consent to search her vehicle, and they found a gun in a bag in the back seat that belonged to the suspect, according to the BPD. Officers located what appeared to be a bullet-hole in the back bumper of UBER car, and the driver told police the hole wasn’t there before, according to BPD.
The suspect in the shooting was placed under arrest, and at the station, he was released from handcuffs to use the restroom, and then got into a fight with law enforcement officers, said the police.
The suspect was previously convicted of robbery in 2008, and he was transient at the time of his most recent arrest, according to the BPD.
All charges are mere allegations unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
