Police continue to search for an Edinburgh man who escaped in Columbus from an officer transporting him to the Bartholomew County Jail.
Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox said investigators believe Dustin A. Evans, 26, is still in the central Indiana area although he has eluded police since he escaped about 5:40 a.m. Nov. 17.
Evans is wanted on two warrants in Johnson County and for other charges in Bartholomew and Scott counties, the sheriff’s department said.
The department also released new photos of Evans that show his unique tattoos, including one across the left side of his face that says “misunderstood.”
Edinburgh police officer Rana Bostock allowed Dustin Evans out of her police car near Eighth Street and Central Avenue in Columbus after Evans said he was getting sick, Edinburgh Police Chief David Mann said in an earlier interview. When she went to put him back in the police car, Evans managed to escape, Mann said.
When he escaped, Evans was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a red shirt and blue shorts, police said. Evans is being described as a white male, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing about 140 pounds, with revised height and weight from the initial description. Evans was handcuffed behind the back when he escaped.
Evans was arrested in Edinburgh about 5 a.m. Tuesday, when police attempted to talk to him after learning he was wanted on a Scott County warrant for possession of drug precursors, Mann said. Evans also fled then but was caught on Main Street in Edinburgh, Mann said.
Officers found methamphetamine and paraphernalia on Evans, and he was going to be arrested on those charges, along with resisting law enforcement, Mann said.
Bostock transported Evans to the Bartholomew County Jail, but jail officials asked that he first be checked medically because it was believed that Evans had ingested narcotics, Mann said.
Evans was checked at Columbus Regional Hospital and released then escaped while being transported back to the jail, Mann said.
Columbus police have continued to follow up on tips of Evans sightings in Columbus but have not found him.
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Anyone with information about the location of Dustin A. Evans is asked to call the Edinburgh Police Department at 812-526-3501.
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