A pursuit that began with a report of a motorist driving erratically Friday on Interstate 65 at Seymour ended with a Kentucky man’s arrest north of the Taylorsville exit in northern Bartholomew County, police report.
Russell James Bradley, 42, of Louisville faces preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, resisting law enforcement resulting in bodily injury, operating while intoxicated in a construction zone, operating while intoxicated-endangerment, criminal recklessness, reckless driving and criminal mischief.
The incident that led to Bradley’s arrest began at about 1:30 p.m. Friday when the Indiana State Police received a report of a motorist in a 2002 Toyota Tacoma driving erratically northbound on the interstate in Jackson County, according to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles.
Wheeles, public information officer for the Versailles Post.
Trooper Andrew Garrett located the vehicle and observed erratic driving behavior. The vehicle also was traveling well above the posted speed limit, police said.
Garrett attempted to stop the vehicle near the 51-mile-marker just north of Seymour, but the driver accelerated and fled northbound on the interstate.
Numerous troopers and officers from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the pursuit, Wheeles said. Troopers eventually deployed a tire deflation device near the 67-mile-marker near Columbus, and the vehicle slowed and eventually came to a stop near the 72-mile-marker.
Bradley resisted officers at the scene before eventually being taken into custody, Wheeles said.
Bradley was transported to Columbus Regional Health, where he was evaluated for his injuries and then released and taken to the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown. He was booked into the jail at 5:27 p.m. Friday and was being held without bond pending his initial appearance in Jackson Circuit Court.
One of the troopers sustained a minor injury to his hand while taking Bradley into custody, Wheeles said. That trooper was evaluated at Columbus Regional Health.
The Columbus Fire Department also assisted with the incident.