The driver of a Cadillac was estimated to be going 140 mph early Friday morning when police terminated a pursuit on I-69, Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo told The Bloomingtonian Monday.
The chase began when the driver of a newer model Cadillac crossed the double yellow center line on 11th Street around 12:12 a.m., and police attempted to pull over the vehicle for the infraction. However, instead of stopping on Maple Street, the car sped away.
First, the driver entered the Willowbrook area, then turned around, drove back onto Maple, then east on 15th, then N. on Jackson, then E. on 17th before heading N. on Kinser, east on the 45/46 bypass, then north on Old. Ind. 37, and then finally onto I-69 northbound.
The driver was going so fast police couldn’t get close enough to get the plate information, but Pedigo said the plate was from Indiana. An officer pursuing the vehicle was left so far behind that the car’s taillights disappeared into the distance.
The pursuit was terminated because the roads were wet, and the chase was about to enter an area congested because of construction, said Pedigo. The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and Martinsville Police Department were told the fleeing driver has headed in their direction.
The police officer continued to Martinsville where Morgan county deputies were seen waiting for the driver with stop sticks set up, but the driver didn’t appear. It’s believed the driver exited the interstate Liberty Church Rd.
Earlier the same night, on Thursday, police caught a man who fled from the police.
On Thursday, August 12th around 8:26 p.m. police were patrolling in the area near the Crestmont housing project, the scene of two recent drive-by shootings, when a driver failed to stop at a stop sign, or use a turn signal.
Police stopped the 2009 Chevy Malibu around the intersection of N. 11th and Blair, and upon approaching the vehicle, police could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the car. The man provided a driver’s license to the officer, and then police asked him to exit the car. However, the man put the car into drive, and the police officer repeated several times, “Don’t do it …”
The driver headed south on Blair, then east on 11th, north on Maple, eventually entered Willowbrook, left Willowbrook going southbound. Finally, the car was stopped, and the driver fled on foot running northwest.
When police finally caught the man near Tri-North Middle School they found 3.2 grams of a substance believed to be heroin, 5 smaller clear baggies typically used to sell narcotics. The man had also ditched a Louis Vuitton backpack, which police later recovered.
Inside the designer, backpack police recovered a 9mm Glock handgun with 10 rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber. Also in the backpack were 15 small packages of marijuana.