A statewide advisory about escaped suspect Dustin Evans has been upgraded, describing him as armed and dangerous.
That change came after the 26-year-old Franklin man was spotted Thanksgiving Eve at a Hope convenience store, when he again managed to slip away from police.
The advisory said Evans has been selling meth and guns hidden underneath a blanket in a vehicle and is considered a danger to law enforcement.
Hope police received a tip at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday that Evans was at Huck’s convenience store on Hope’s south side, Hope Town Marshal Matt Tallent said. The tip came 15 days after Evans escaped in Columbus from an Edinburgh police officer transporting him to the Bartholomew County Jail.
When Hope officer Benjamin Wallace arrived at the store at 9823 N. State Road 9, he spotted Evans at one of the gas pumps, Tallent said.
Although Wallace told Evans to stop, Evans ignored him and drove his vehicle south from the store, Tallent said.
Wallace pursued Evans in a high-speed chase that continued a short distance past Hauser Junior-Senior High School before Evans turned left onto Midway Drive, Tallent said.
Evans ran from the vehicle after finding himself at a dead-end at the Hitchcock Drive cul-de-sac, Tallent said. Wallace chased Evans for a short distance on foot before he lost sight of him, Tallent said.
That’s similar to what occurred near Eighth Street and Central Avenue in Columbus on Nov. 17, when Evans got away from the Edinburgh officer.
In Hope, more police officers were called and the Goshen Meadows subdivision was cordoned off before a police dog was brought in to track Evans, Tallent said. But after searching for about an hour, officers did not locate Evans, he said.
Police had said they believed Evans was still in the central Indiana area.
Evans was first arrested Nov. 17 when Edinburgh police attempted to talk to him after learning he was wanted on a Scott County warrant for possession of drug precursors, Edinburgh Police Chief David Mann said.
Evans attempted to flee 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.
Evans was being transported to the Bartholomew County Jail but instead was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital after jail officers determined he might have ingested narcotics.
After being checked at the hospital, Evans was being driven to the jail in Columbus when he told the Edinburgh officer he was getting sick and was allowed to step briefly outside the patrol car, and then ran from the scene, Mann said.
Evans is 5 feet, 4 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes. His most distinctive feature is a tattoo on his left temple that says “misunderstood.”
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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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