3 in custody, 1 at large after midnight police chase in Terre Haute

Simmons/Vigo Co. Jail

 By Lucy Perry
Indiana Central News

An Indianapolis man and two juveniles were taken into custody after fleeing police during a traffic stop last night in Terre Haute. A fourth suspect was able to escape after jumping from the moving vehicle and has not been located.

Jerimiah A. Simmons, 18, was booked into the Vigo County Jail just before 6 a.m. He is charged with operating while intoxicated- resulting in injury and two counts of resisting law enforcement. The suspects – Simmons and the two juveniles --  had fled on foot just after the car crashed, and were apprehended near the crash on the city's north side. 

One passenger was treated and released from a local hospital before being transported to the juvenile center. The other juvenile was cited and released to her mother.  The fourth suspect, a 19-year-old woman, had reportedly jumped from the moving vehicle near Brown Avenue and Crawford Street  during the pursuit and had not been located at the time of the police report.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the suspect vehicle crashed on cement blocks behind a nursing home on Maple Avenue. Simmons consented to a chemical test after the officers noted a burnt marijuana smell in the car and an odor of an alcoholic beverage on the suspect’s breath.

The chase began near 17th Street and Wabash Avenue just after midnight.

According to the court documents, a Terre Haute Police Department officer was on routine patrol when he noticed the suspect’s silver Honda Accord make a right turn onto Wabash Avenue from 17th Street without signaling. The license plate light was also noted to be out. The suspect initially pulled over at 14th Street and Wabash Avenue and then took off southbound on 14th Street before the officer could call out the stop –exceeding speeds of 60 mph and disregarding all stop signs from 14th Street to Oak Street.

From there, the vehicle continued to disregard signals and stop signs on Crawford Street as it proceeded at high speeds to Brown Avenue. Other officers joined in the pursuit and the vehicle ultimately crashed near a nursing home on Maple Avenue on Brown Avenue. The car was visible to officers from sparks coming from where the tire had fallen off.

A K9 search was conducted of the area, believing the woman who had fled on foot during the pursuit was possibly injured. The track ended for K9s in the area of several yards on Poplar Street. Officers located tire tread from where a tire had fallen off the vehicle in the 2600 block of Crawford Street. A cell phone was also located in a yard where the car had traveled before ultimately ending up in the Maple Avenue area.

The remaining suspect at large is the girlfriend of Simmons.

“While walking Jerimiah to my patrol car, Jerimiah voluntarily stated,'I was the driver! It was all my fault. Please find my baby mama!' He also stated that she is pregnant and thinks she jumped out about a mile back, south of ISU's stadium, according to the report.




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