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Jail fracas yields 4 more felony charges for Avon man held in 100-mph chase case
A 25-year-old Hendricks County man, incarcerated since an October high-speed pursuit, was back in court Wednesday afternoon on new charges incurred without ever leaving the jail.
Nicholas J. McAlister of Avon, who led police on a 100-mph chase that resulted in an arrest for possession of methamphetamine and resisting law enforcement, is now facing four additional felonies after a Dec. 22 incident at the Putnam County Jail.
Alleged to have battered four female jail officers in an incident that began when he threw a food tray at one of them, striking her in the thigh, McAlister has been charged with four counts of battery against a public safety official. As a Level 6 felony, the charge carries a sentencing range of from six months to 2-1/2 years in jail.
Court records state that when two other jail officers responded in an effort to restrain McAlister, he physically resisted, striking them and grabbing onto a desk and challenging them with, "It is going to take more than you two girls to get me out of here."
When another officer joined the fray, he pushed her away, causing her head and body to slam into a wall.
McAlister was finally subdued and handcuffed after Sheriff Scott Stockton and Chief Deputy Phil Parker responded to the scene.
In court Wednesday, McAlister was confined by extra shackles, including belly chains, and relegated to the back row of the courtroom where a jailer and Sheriff Stockton and Chief Deputy Parker often stood nearby, providing tighter-than-normal courthouse security.
Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges entered a not-guilty plea on McAllister's behalf and set a pretrial conference in the case for 11 a.m. March 30.
McAlister was already being held on $40,000 cash bond due to the multi-county pursuit that began in Hendricks County and ended in Putnam. He is facing a Level 3 felony count of possession of methamphetamine, which carries a sentencing range of three to 16 years, in that Oct. 27 incident.
In that incident, McAlister allegedly fled from a Hendricks County law enforcement officer after being clocked at a speed of 102 mph in the wrong lane of U.S. 40.
The pursuit continued at speeds reportedly reaching 115 mph before he was finally stopped on County Road 250 East, north of County Road 700 South. Officers had to forcibly remove McAlister from the Ford Fusion he was driving.
McAlister had to be forcibly placed on the ground where Sheriff Stockton then located the suspect's wallet. The wallet contained more than $1,300 in cash and two bags of a crystal-like substance, later determined to be methamphetamine, totaling 117 grams (or 4.1 ounces).
McAlister reportedly continued to defy officers' commands as they attempted to transport him to the jail, letting his body go limp to the point officers had to carry him to a cruiser for transport to the jail. Sheriff Stockton had to utilize pressure points to get McAlister into the cruiser, the probable cause affidavit notes.
Once at the jail, he went limp again, forcing officers to carry him into the book-in area.
Even in the aftermath of the Dec. 22 jail incident, McAlister has continued demonstrating belligerent behavior.
Capt. Tom Helmer's report noted that he went to McAlister's cell to get his side of the story following the PCJ incident.
"He would not answer me," Helmer stated.
So the deputy requested McAlister write out a voluntary statement of what had transpired. That didn't work out so well either.
Leaving the inmate a statement form and pen, Helmer advised him he would pick up the statement when McAlister was finished.
Some 45 minutes later, no statement was to be had from the combative suspect, Helmer said.
"McAlister apparently flushed the statement form and the pen down the toilet," Helmer's report concluded.