GPD pursuit results in arrest of Greencastle man

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Greencastle City Police were involved in a vehicle pursuit Friday afternoon that resulted in the arrest of a Greencastle man on four criminal charges.

At approximately 3:45 p.m., Officer Kyle Lee was northbound on Jackson Street when he reportedly observed a male, whom he believed he recognized as Drew Evens, 25, in the driver's seat of an SUV stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Washington and Jackson streets.

Aware of an active Putnam County warrant for Evens' arrest, Officer Lee turned his fully marked squad car around for a second look at the male to confirm that the driver of the SUV was in fact Evens.

After confirming his identity, Lee turned around to follow the vehicle to initiate a traffic stop. As the officer was turning around, the SUV turned west down Franklin Street at which time Officer Lee activated his red and blue emergency lights, showing his intent initiate a traffic stop.

However, the vehicle did not pull over but reportedly accelerated, at which time Officer Lee marked in pursuit of the vehicle.

Evens subsequently led police across several city blocks on the west side of Greencastle at speeds reportedly reaching 55-60 mph, going down alleys and small side streets.

While speeding down an alley, the vehicle Evens was driving struck a rock with a passenger side tire, causing it to deflate rapidly.

Evens reportedly continued to flee from police with the flat tire until officers were able to block the SUV from continuing any further at the intersection of Market and Washington streets. Evens was then taken into custody without incident.

A search of Evens' vehicle resulted in the discovery of a glass pipe, commonly used to ingest methamphetamine, and a white crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine, GPD officials reported.

Chief Tom Sutherlin, Det. Capt. Randy Seipel, Det. Sgt. Michael Collins and Officer Darrel Bunten assisted in the vehicle pursuit and subsequent arrest of Evens.

Lodged in the Putnam County Jail, Evens was preliminarily charged with resisting law enforcement with a motor vehicle, criminal recklessness, possession of methamphetamine and possession of paraphernalia.

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  • GREAT JOB!

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Sun, Apr 17, 2016, at 9:14 PM
  • I'm, and many others not speaking out, are deeply concerned about these high speed pursuits on our City/County Roads and that we continue to address drug addiction/illegal use by control and punishment instead of focusing on recovery and rehabilitation. Doubling arrests is not solving the problem. Is someone going to have to die before we stop this kind of pursuit. Jackson Street, the streets around the square are already accidents waiting to happen....If anyone is concerning about addressing our drug problems locally please contact me...Marian Harvey at 765-522-3506. I will be calling the Mayor and Drug Enforcement officials today...surely there is a better way to address our illegal drug crisis...a more compassionate way.

    -- Posted by harveymarian@yahoo.com on Tue, Apr 19, 2016, at 8:20 AM
  • Marian you are the one that needs help!

    These people are felons and need to be jailed and taken off the streets and parks and if they are stupid enough to run from the police, they are not safe to be in society period!!!!!!!!!!!!

    -- Posted by becker on Wed, Apr 20, 2016, at 11:44 AM
  • There is certainly a better way to apprehend a local with a warrant than making a chaotic mess of the downtown area of Greencastle and a spectical of yourselves. That is exactly what I witnessed and when one of the people chasing this person in an unmarked maroon vehicle made a u-turn at high speeds in the middle of downtown, turning around in the front yard of residents, almost running over me, this is certainly not a safe practice of executing a warrant. The only ones I witnessed going high speed, acting on emotion, and out of control, were the people apprehending the person that was not stopping. Certainly we have better policy in place at the police departments in apprehending a suspect, in populated areas, that are safer for the residents and our neighborhoods that are peaceful. Our neighborhood went to peaceful to a disastrous chaotic mess. Especially when the suspect went down an alley with a police office following right behind. Please address the issue of safety in these situations to the officers of the community, so as not to your affect your law abiding citizens, who should in no way be affected by your decision to chase a person known to have a warrant. I am almost certain that since this was a local that was driving his mothers vehicle that there is certainly a safer way of executing a warrant other than seeing the person sitting at a light and deciding to pursue him in a high speed chase around two downtown blocks full of residents and children in the middle of the afternoon. There was definitely more than 4 cars involved as reported. It was a mess.

    -- Posted by HisMother on Fri, Apr 22, 2016, at 11:09 AM
  • My brother does not need more jail time. He has already been in and out of jail on several occasions. This doesn't prevent drug use. He needs professional help. Most drug users aren't the most wealthy people out there. There needs to be more mandatory/professional programs that will help these people get off the drugs they were using. I'm sure if my brother came from a wealthy family then he would have all the care and treatment he needed and would have never been back in this situation, but because he isn't from a wealthy family he doesn't get the care he deserves. You call him a felon all you want but he is my brother and he just needs help.

    -- Posted by tdillins on Thu, Apr 28, 2016, at 12:11 PM
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