State police arrest local teen after chase

Indiana State Police arrested a local man after a pursuit involving a vehicle that was reported stolen from a Columbus business.

At about 3 a.m. Sunday, Indiana State Trooper Korry Clark attempted to stop a 2006 black Volkswagen Jett at State Road 46 and County Road 500 West in Bartholomew County for not having working taillights, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Indiana State Police spokesman.

The vehicle, driven by Nathaniel L. Jones-Knight, 18, Columbus, fled from Clark, Wheeles said.

At the same time, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department received information that the vehicle Clark was pursuing had just been stolen from the Taco Bell on 25th Street in Columbus.

The pursuit, which was joined by other officers, lasted for 10 minutes at speeds from 20 to 60 miles per hour, Wheeles said.

The vehicle stopped in the Harrison Lakes neighborhood when it began to have mechanical troubles.

Jones-Knight stopped the vehicle on Raintree Drive about a mile west of County Road 525W, where he then fled from the vehicle on foot, Wheeles said.

Trooper Jacob Tolle and a Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy soon found Jones-Knight hiding nearby, Wheeles said.

Jones-Knight was arrested on charges of auto theft, possession of methamphetamine, resisting law enforcement in a vehicle, possession of a hypodermic syringe, criminal recklessness with a vehicle, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated (controlled substance).

For more on this story, see Monday’s Republic.