SEYMOUR — Two people were arrested following a vehicle pursuit that went through two counties.
The driver of the vehicle, Jamontrae Daqueice Bennett, 28, of Columbus, faces charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, a Level 6 felony; reckless driving, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of synthetic urine, a Class B misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle while never having received a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor.
The passenger, Nyasia Aleece Bragg, 19, of Seymour, faces charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, a Level 6 felony; reckless driving, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of synthetic urine, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of a narcotic drug, a Level 2 felony; trafficking with an inmate, a Level 5 felony; false informing, a Level 6 felony; and operating while never having received a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor.
Bennett was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown at 9:13 p.m. Tuesday without bond, and Bragg was booked in 4 minutes later also without bond.
At 7:51 p.m. Tuesday, while patrolling in the Bobtown area, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Officer Kevin Settle was traveling south on County Road 525E when he observed a gray Pontiac G6 going north without a registration license plate, according to a news release from Sheriff Rick Meyer.
Settle turned around and attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, and it came to a stop just inside of Bartholomew County on County Road 180W.
When Settle exited his patrol vehicle, the Pontiac took off north at a high rate of speed, Meyer said. Settle pursued the vehicle east on County Road 1050S in Bartholomew County, where the vehicle ran off of the roadway and into a yard.
The driver, later identified as Bennett, was able to regain control of the vehicle and get back on the roadway traveling south on County Road 80W in Bartholomew County. The vehicle then turned east back into Jackson County onto County Road 1100N and continued fleeing at a high rate of speed, Meyer said.
At the intersection of County Road 1100N and State Road 11, Officer Billy Dishman had stop sticks set up in an attempt to deflate the Pontiac’s tires. The Pontiac struck the stop sticks and continued to flee north on State Road 11.
At this point, Dishman and fellow officers Jordan Hawn and Scott Ferguson, troopers with the Indiana State Police and officers from the Seymour Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department had joined in the pursuit.
During the pursuit, Bennett stopped several times and then took off again at high rates of speed, and the Pontiac eventually became immobilized near the intersection of County Road 850S and State Road 11 in Bartholomew County, Meyer said.
Once the vehicle stopped, Bennett and Bragg were taken into custody. Toward the end of the pursuit, Bragg switched seats with Bennett and attempted to flee herself until the vehicle became immobilized, Meyer said.
During the course of the investigation, Meyer said suspected THC marijuana wax was located on Bennett, and synthetic urine was located inside the vehicle.
Then at the jail, Meyer said staff located 6.9 grams of marijuana and 10.6 grams of heroin/fentanyl concealed on Bragg.
