High-Speed Chase Ends in arrest after suspect is located hiding from police in a creek near Whitehall

A high-speed chase through the streets of Bloomington and western Monroe County late Tuesday night ended with an arrest after an unidentified member of a law enforcement agency executed a “pit maneuver” to halt the fleeing suspect.

The incident began around 11:42 p.m. when Bloomington Police Department officers attempted to pull over a black Mazda with Illinois license plates for speeding. However, at approximately 11:51 p.m., the driver described as a Black male according to scanner dispatches, decided to evade the police and sped away, initiating a high-speed pursuit.

The driver led authorities on a frenzied route, taking them onto Third Street, then north on Adams, before veering onto 17th Street and ultimately onto Vernal, where speeds reached up to 90 mph in the westbound direction. The high-speed chase continued until a member of law enforcement executed a “pit maneuver,” causing the Mazda to come to a halt. Following the collision, the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.

Members of a law enforcement agency deployed a drone to assist in locating the suspect. After a search, the man was found hiding in a creek and subsequently taken into custody.

Upon capture, the man displayed visible distress, screaming, and crying as he was carried out of the woods on a board. He was then placed onto a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office truck to be transported to a waiting ambulance. Details surrounding the suspect, the arrest, and the extent of his injuries remain undisclosed. No questions can be asked at the scene of an incident, they must be directed to the BPD’s public information officer.

Notably, this incident is one of several high-speed chases that have unfolded on the streets of Bloomington over the past two weeks. Last week, another high-speed pursuit involving a white Dodge Durango reached speeds of up to 115 miles per hour before being terminated for safety reasons at the Lawrence County line. Additionally, a woman involved in a bank fraud led members of the sheriff’s office and the Bloomington police on a high-speed chase to Sample Road, where the pursuit was halted, also for safety reasons. The woman was traveling at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour before eventually being apprehended in Indianapolis when a member of the Bargersville Police executed a pit maneuver on her vehicle, which had a fake license plate.

Should more information become available, this story will be updated.