Columbus police arrested a local man after he led officers on a vehicle pursuit and crashed into a Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department patrol car.
Steven D. Fields, 25, 3062 Scotland Drive, was arrested after the incident which started at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday with the report of a possibly intoxicated driver at National Road and Washington Street, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Fields was on a 48 hour hold in the Bartholomew County Jail as of Saturday, but was later released from the jail in lieu of $46,000 bond, jail officials said.
Harris said he was arrested on preliminary charges of:
- Resisting law enforcement with a vehicle
- Resisting law enforcement on foot
- Criminal recklessness
- Possession of methamphetamine
- Illegal possession of a syringe
- Aggressive driving
- Reckless driving
- Leaving the scene of an accident
- Operating a vehicle while intoxicated
Columbus Police Officer Michael Butler was sent to National Road and Washington Street and saw the vehicle Fields was driving weaving and unable to stay in one lane, Harris said.
When Butler attempted to stop the vehicle, Fields refused to pull over and accelerated, Harris said. During a 45-minute pursuit, Fields attempted to drive into oncoming traffic and later drove over tire deflation devices placed by Indiana State Police, Harri said.
During the pursuit, Fields’ car nearly struck an Indiana State Trooper’s patrol car head on and later crashed into a Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department car causing the deputy strike a tree, Harris said. The deputy was not injured.
Fields eventually stopped his vehicle in the 1900 block of Wallace Avenue and fled on foot, but was later caught by Sheriff’s Deputy Teancum Clark.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
