A man riding a four-wheeler led police on a chase that eventually led to his arrest Monday night in the far northwestern part of Jackson County.
Ronald Dean Zike, 47, of Freetown faces a Level 5 felony charge of possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and Level 6 felony charges of possession of methamphetamine and resisting law enforcement with a vehicle after the incident was reported at 10:51 p.m. in the 4000 block of Thompson Road in Owen Township.
A second Freetown man, Robert Lee Taylor, 35, also was arrested in connection with the incident that began when Jackson County Officer Dustin Steward investigated a report of two all-terrain vehicles in the road, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department.
Steward reported he was able to locate the two ATVs and stopped them because he knew Taylor was a habitual traffic violator for life.
Taylor stopped for Steward and was arrested on that Level 5 felony charge, but Zike did not stop, leading to a pursuit by county Officer Adam Nicholson, who had arrived in the area. County Reserve Officer Brad Barker joined in the pursuit as it went north on County Road 650W.
The man on the ATV, later identified as Zike, then drove east on State Road 58 before turning onto County Road 550W, which is a dead-end road. Zike drove off the road in a northeast direction through a farm field, crashed and then fled on foot before being caught by county Reserve Officer Kevin Settle, who used a stun gun to stop Zike.
During a search of Zike and the ATV, police reported finding a .40-caliber handgun, methamphetamine, marijuana and paraphernalia. Zike, who also faces misdemeanor charges of possession of paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, was arrested and taken to the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown.
He was then transferred to the emergency room at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour before being treated and released to the jail, where he was being held without bond Tuesday morning. Taylor also was being held without bond.
Medora Reserve Officers Jonathon Tabor and Levi Caudill also assisted with the investigation and arrests.