UPDATED
The family of the UPS driver killed in Tuesday’s fatal crash has been notified. The deceased driver has been identified as 25-year-old Patrick Dene Harvey of Brownsburg.
The trooper injured in the collision with Dylin Lee Taylor was Trooper Justin Mears.
Mears is a nine-year veteran of the department and has consistently been one of the state’s top five operating while intoxicated enforcement officers. He has been released from the hospital and will remain off duty while he recuperates.
The charges for Taylor have been amended as follows:
- Battery with bodily injury to a public safety officer -Level 5 felony
- Neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury – Level 5 felony
- Resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and causing serious bodily injury – Level 5 felony
- Battery by means of a deadly weapon – Level 5 felony
- Criminal Recklessness with aggressive driving – Level 6 felony
- Resisting law enforcement with vehicle – Level 6 felony
- Resisting Law Enforcement – A misdemeanor
- Reckless driving causing bodily injury – A misdemeanor
- Driving while suspended – A misdemeanor
- Criminal recklessness – B misdemeanor
ORGINAL NEWS RELEASE
A Charlestown man was arrested Tuesday after leading officers from multiple agencies on a chase down Interstate 65 and crashing into an Indiana State Police trooper.
A fatal crash then occurred following a traffic backup.
The preliminary investigation into the morning’s events reveals that shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning, Scott County deputies advised they were in pursuit of a silver Acura passenger car on I-65 southbound. The vehicle reportedly fled at more than 110 miles per hour as the pursuit continued south into Clark County.
Near the 9 mile marker, the Acura struck stop stick tire deflation devices set up by troopers from the Indiana State Police Sellersburg Post; however, the driver continued south.
As the pursuit reached the 3.6 mile marker, the Acura collided with an Indiana State Police car, and both vehicles came to rest in the roadway, investigators said. The trooper was injured and temporarily entrapped in his car.
The suspect driver, later identified as 27-year-old Dylin Lee Taylor of Charlestown, fled on foot and jumped off the interstate onto U.S. 31. Troopers, Clark and Scott County officers, Jeffersonville and Clarksville police officers and Clark County Emergency Management Agency officials assisted in the search for Taylor. K-9 units from multiple agencies also assisted.
Taylor was located inside a bus near Sportsdrome Speedway in Clarksville a short time later. Troopers arrested Taylor after he was medically cleared. He was then incarcerated at the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville.
Officers also discovered an adult female and a child were onboard the Acura during the pursuit. Ambulances transported both to local hospitals for minor injuries.
The injured trooper was transported to University Hospital, where doctors treated him for a head injury. He was later released.
After the initial crash at the 3.6 mile marker, all I-65 southbound lanes were blocked, and traffic reached a standstill. Approximately 10 minutes later, a southbound UPS semi-truck collided with the rear of a second semi-truck and trailer stopped in the backup.
The driver of the UPS truck was killed in the crash, and a co-driver asleep in the UPS truck’s sleeper birth was rushed to University Hospital with serious injuries. An ISP crash reconstruction team was called to the scene, and I-65 southbound remained closed until approximately 12:20 p.m. Tuesday. That crash is still under investigation, and no names will be released until family notifications have been made.
Both the initial pursuit case and the fatal crash are still under investigation.
Taylor is currently charged with the following:
Neglect of a dependent resulting in Injury – Level 5 felony
Resisting law enforcement causing serious injury – Level 5 felony
Resisting law enforcement in a vehicle – Level 6 felony
Driving while suspended causing injury – Level 6 felony
Criminal recklessness with a vehicle – Level 6 felony
Reckless driving causing injury – Class A misdemeanor