A Seymour man is being held without bond in the Bartholomew County Jail, accused of three criminal charges after a standoff with Columbus SWAT officers.
Ian W. Gardner, 26, of 9790 N. County Road 760E, is being held on charges of criminal recklessness while armed, possession of a firearm by a felon and resisting law enforcement, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies said.
Deputy Adam Warner was attempting to serve a felony warrant out of Jackson County at 4 p.m. Thursday after the sheriff’s department was notified that Gardner had been seen in the 200 block of North Gladstone Avenue on Columbus’ east side, deputies said.
As Warner drove south in an alley toward Ohio Street, he saw a male matching Gardner’s clothing description walking southern end of the alley and asked him to stop, deputies said.
Gardner initially said “OK,” but quickly turned and ran, deputies said. Warner pursued him on foot, and Gardner turned and used a black handgun to fire two shots into the ground before continuing to run east from Gladstone Avenue, deputies said.
Sheriff’s deputies, Columbus Police Department officers and Indiana State Police troopers converged on the area to try to locate Gardner, Myers said.
Deputies then received information that Gardner was in a home at 112 N. Ross St. and called in the Columbus SWAT team to negotiate to have him surrender, deputies said. The home is the residence of an acquaintance of Gardner’s who was not home when the incident occurred, deputies said.
By 6:20 p.m., Gardner was arrested and officers were checking the home.
No injuries were reported.
Gardner’s weapon, a .38-caliber handgun, was found with a spent casing jammed in the chamber, deputies said.
Myers said Warner handled the situation professionally by refraining from returning fire at Gardner during the pursuit, an action he said would have been well within the sheriff’s department guidelines if necessary.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation that could have ended very badly,” said Capt. Dave Steinkoenig, the sheriff department’s road commander.
The Jackson County warrant is believed to have stemmed from an accident on the east side of Seymour about 5:35 a.m. March 28.
Gardner faced preliminary charges of auto theft, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating a vehicle while intoxicated-drugs, reckless driving and operating a vehicle while never having a driver’s license after the incident, according to Seymour police.
Seymour police said Gardner was driving east in the 1500 block of East Tipton Street at an extremely high rate of speed when the 2006 Chevrolet Impala left the road, struck a culvert and rolled repeatedly.
After rolling for more than 150 yards, the vehicle stopped in the westbound lanes of East Tipton Street, where it was hit by a 2002 Ford Ranger truck, police said. No one in the truck was injured. Gardner was hospitalized after the incident.
Seymour police said the vehicle Gardner was driving was taken from the Columbus area earlier in the evening March 28.
