A Michigan driver was arrested early today following a brief pursuit on Interstate 65 that started in Jackson County and ended in nearby Scott County.
The incident began shortly after 4 a.m. when the Indiana State Police Dispatch center in Versailles received information about a dark-colored passenger car speeding southbound near the 45 mile marker south of Seymour. The caller advised the vehicle was speeding and had no headlights or taillights on.
Sgt. Tracy Spencer from the Indiana State Police post in Sellersburg responded to the area and observed the car traveling southbound near the 35 mile marker.
The vehicle, a blue 2015 Ford Focus, quickly approached from the north and Sergeant Spencer clocked the vehicle at 118 mph. The car had only its emergency flashers illuminated at that time and was in the left lane. When Spencer pulled out to stop the Focus, the driver, later identified as 55-year-old Joseph Lee Strain of Hudsonville, Michigan, continued southbound without slowing.
Spencer reported witnessing the vehicle passing other traffic and pass two semitrailers on the right by driving in the emergency lane and the Austin exit on-ramp merge lane.
Strain then allegedly turned off the vehicle’s emergency flashers, and the Focus continued southbound without slowing and with no lights illuminated.
As the car approached the 32 mile marker, the vehicles’ lights came on and the driver slowly pulled to the side of the roadway and came to a stop.
Strain was taken into custody without further incident and booked into the Scott County Jail in Scottsburg at 4:33 a.m. Wednesday.
Spencer was assisted by officers from the Scott County Sheriff’s Department and the Scottsburg City Police Department.
Strain faces a Level 6 felony of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle; Class A misdemeanors of possession of marijuana and maintaining a common nuisance; and Class C misdemeanors of reckless driving and possession of paraphernalia.