A Jennings County man faces as many as 10 preliminary criminal charges related to an incident that started with a domestic disturbance Friday night in North Vernon and ended with a crash and a brief foot pursuit.
Zachary B. Taylor, 24, of North Vernon faces charges of criminal confinement, strangulation, auto theft, reckless driving, domestic battery, intimidation, resisting law enforcement by vehicle, resisting law enforcement, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and operating while never having received a driver’s license, according to the Jennings County Jail.
Taylor’s arrest occurred after North Vernon officers were called to investigate a physical domestic dispute at 10:06 p.m. Friday at a restaurant in the 1400 block of North State Street, according to a news release from the North Vernon Police Department.
Officers arriving at the scene were told a man had struck a woman across the face and the two had left the area in a white Mercury, police said. The man was driving the vehicle.
A short time later, officers with the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to a domestic dispute in progress in the 2700 block of County Road 300N. The same white Mercury was reported as traveling back to town from County Road 300N during that incident.
City Reserve Officer Evan Ponsler reported he was traveling west on U.S. 50 near State Road 3 when the Mercury passed him going east at a high rate of speed.
Ponsler said he activated his emergency overhead lights and siren to attempt a traffic stop on the vehicle. The driver, however, disregarded Ponsler’s attempts to stop the vehicle and continued at high rates of speed to get away, police said.
The vehicle continued north on County Road 75W and disregarded a stop sign at County Road 350N and County Road 75W, police said.
The driver then drove the vehicle off of the road into a field west of NVIC, a gray iron factory in the 3700 block of Fourth Street, and lost control of the vehicle and wrecked. The driver continued to flee on foot away from the accident scene.
North Vernon Officer Shane Trepanier with K-9 Zobi responded to Ponsler’s location and attempted to track the fleeing suspect, police said.
Jennings County Sgt. Cody Low was able to detain the man, identified as Taylor.
Taylor was booked into the Jennings County Jail in North Vernon at 12:02 a.m. Saturday and was being held on a $10,005 bond.