Columbus police arrested a Franklin man after he was accused of leading officers on a pursuit.
Officers were first sent to a parking lot in the 700 block of Whitfield Drive just after 7 a.m. Wednesday about a man slumped over inside a vehicle, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
When officers arrived, they found the man — later identified as Richard A. McKee, 32, of Franklin — inside a locked passenger car with drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle, Harris said.
McKee refused to open the vehicle door and sped off, Harris said. Officers pursued McKee as he left the parking lot onto 10th Street and then turned south onto U.S. 31, Harris said.
He then headed west on Base Road where he drove into a cornfield and left the vehicle, fleeing on foot, Harris said. McKee was apprehended a short time later and transported to Columbus Regional Hospital for a blood draw, Harris said.
One officer was slightly injured while arresting McKee, and was treated and released from the hospital.
McKee was arrested on preliminary charges of two Bartholomew County warrants, a Marion County warrant, resisting law enforcement in a vehicle, resisting law enforcement on foot, possession of a syringe, possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, criminal recklessness and invasion of privacy, Harris said.
He was released Wednesday from the Bartholomew County Jail, according to jail officials.
