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 potentially intoxicated driver at National Road and Washington Street, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Fields was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail but released in lieu of $46,000 bond, jail officials said.
Harris said Fields 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.
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, Harris 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.
Fields was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked and for a blood draw, Harris said.
Fields refused a blood test and officers served a warrant for it before he was transported to the jail, Harris said.
