Greencastle man escapes police custody, captured three hours later

Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Levi Runnells

A Greencastle man wanted on a Hendricks County warrant escaped from police custody on Monday and eluded authorities for three hours before again being apprehended.

Deputy Don Lewis of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department was on traffic patrol on U.S. 40 when he clocked a Chrysler westbound at 77 mph in a 55 mph zone.

When Lewis approached the car, the driver identified himself as Levi Runnells. The deputy also observed another white male in the car.

While running Runnells' license and registration, Lewis discovered he was wanted on a Hendricks County warrant for theft.

Returning to Runnells' vehicle, Lewis had him get out of the car before handcuffing him and placing him in the rear seat of the police car with the seat belt fastened.

With Runnells secure, Lewis called for backup and a wrecker before searching the car and running a background check on the other man.

Among the items, he found a bag containing marijuana and paraphernalia.

After performing the search, Lewis looked back at his car and found Runnells out of the vehicle, across U.S. 40 and running east.

The sheriff's department, Cloverdale Police Department, Indiana State Police, Roachdale K9 unit and the Putnamville Correctional Facility all took part in the search, capturing Runnells about three hours later.

Deputy Mike Downing transported Runnells to the Putnam County Jail. At 6:40 p.m., he was booked in on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia and resisting law enforcement, in addition to the warrant for theft.

Comments
View 1 comment
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • Wow just wow

    -- Posted by Shellie Graham on Sun, Jun 22, 2014, at 12:36 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: