CLARK COUNTY, Ind. – A Charlestown man has been arrested after leading officers from multiple agencies on a chase down I-65 and crashing into a trooper’s car on Tuesday in Clark County. A fatal crash then occurred following a traffic backup.
The suspect vehicle reportedly fled at over 110 mph during a police pursuit from Scott County into Clark County. Near the 9-mile marker, the car struck Stop Stick tire deflation devices set up by the Indiana State Police Post in Sellersburg but the driver continued south.
As the pursuit reached the 3.6-mile marker, the suspect car collided with an Indiana State Police (ISP) car driven by Justin Mears, and both vehicles came to rest in the roadway. Mears was injured and temporarily entrapped in his car.
ISP says the suspect driver, later identified as Dylin Lee Taylor, of Charlestown, fled on foot and was located inside a bus near the Sportsdrome Speedway a short time later. He was taken into custody.
An adult female and a child were passengers inside the suspect’s vehicle during the pursuit. Ambulances transported both to local hospitals for minor injuries.
Trooper Mears was taken to University Hospital in Louisville, treated for a head injury, and released.
After the initial crash at the 3.6-mile marker, all I-65 southbound lanes were blocked, and traffic reached a standstill.
Ten minutes later, a southbound UPS semi-truck collided with the rear of a second semi stopped in the backup. The driver of the UPS truck, Patrick Dene Harvey, 25, of Brownsburg, 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.
The charges for Dylan Lee Taylor have been amended as follows:
- Battery w/ 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 causing serious bodily injury – Level 5 Felony
- Battery by means of a Deadly Weapon – Level 5 Felony
- Criminal Recklessness/Aggressive Driving – Level 6 Felony
- Resisting Law Enforcement with a 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
