INDIANA. – An Illinois man was taken into custody on multiple charges Monday morning following a pursuit that covered three counties along I-65 in southern and south-central Indiana.
The Scottsburg Police Department received a report of a possible robbery at a Scott County gas station just before 8 a.m. Law enforcement was informed to look for a black Volkswagen SUV with Tennessee plates and the male suspect.
Seymour Police Officers observed the vehicle heading north on I-65, near the 50-mile marker in Jackson County, at 8:10 a.m. They attempted to conduct a traffic stop but the driver, later identified as Mekyell Brown-Champion, 25, of Chicago, continued north at a high rate of speed.
The Indiana State Police (ISP) and other agencies soon assisted in the chase into Bartholomew County, where the SUV exited onto State Road 46 in Columbus. The driver traveled west on State Road 46 and then turned around and tried to get back onto southbound I-65.
While on the on-ramp, an ISP trooper conducted a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) Maneuver. The action disabled the vehicle and safely ended the pursuit. Brown-Champion was arrested.
The suspect was found to be wanted on an Illinois warrant. The vehicle had recently been reported stolen out of Nashville, Tennessee.
Scottsburg Police Department investigators arrested Brown-Champion and transported him back to the Scott County Jail where he was incarcerated on initial charges of Robbery, Criminal Trespass, and Battery. Additional charges in Jackson and Bartholomew Counties are possible.
