Police recovered a vehicle, and arrested a suspect for robbery, after he stole the car from a sleeping man Tuesday in downtown Bloomington, Indiana, according to the Bloomington Police Department.
A man told police he was asleep in his gray 2014 Ford Mustang parked on the west side of the Seminary Kroger parking lot at about 5:04 a.m. Tuesday morning. The keys were in the ignition, and the doors were unlocked.
A male approached the vehicle, and told the man, “You’re in my car!” The man then proceeded to throw the sleeping man out of the car, and onto the pavement of the parking lot, injuring his wrist. Then the suspect started the car and took off.
The man told police his cell phone was still in the Mustang, so the police began to track the phone, but soon found the phone, and a pile of the man’s belongings from the car left in the middle of the 1400 block of Madison. The suspect had removed the items from the vehicle and left.
Around 2 p.m. an off-duty member of the Bloomington Police Department saw the car, and a person matching the description of the suspected robber inside the vehicle in the parking lot of the Northside Kroger on Kinser Pike.
Police blocked the car in the spot where it was parked, and the occupant exited and tried to flee on foot, but an officer tacked him, and took him to the ground.
The owner of the vehicle was given his Mustang.
The 35-year-old robbery suspect, who is unhoused, is being charged with robbery resulting in bodily injury, a level 3 felony; auto theft, a level 6 felony; battery against a public official, which is a level 6 felony, and resisting law enforcement, a level 6 felony.
The suspect has faced numerous charges in the past from 2005 to present, including auto theft in April 2021, multiple charges for resisting law enforcement at various times, and battering a pregnant woman.
According to MyCase, “Clerk is informed that the Defendant is in Monroe County Jail with $15,000.00 surety and $500.00 cash bond.”
