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Woman leads officers on three-county chase
LAFAYETTE — Nearly 50 miles, 6 police departments, 3 counties and 1 stolen Chevy with 0 tires remaining.
An Indianapolis woman led police on a chase that stretched 48 miles from Greencastle to a few miles south of Lafayette early Thursday morning.
For her trouble, 29-year-old Amanda C. Kauffman was booked into the Putnam County Jail on initial charges of Level 6 felony auto theft, Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement and misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and refusal to identify self.
She was also wanted on a Marion County warrant.
The initial call came in at 11:19 p.m. Wednesday as a possible drunk driver in a red Chevrolet Silverado at the Marathon on Indianapolis Road in Greencastle.
The Greencastle Police Department searched the area, with an officer attempting a stop in the area of Kroger. The pickup fled westbound on Franklin Street, with the officer initiating a pursuit.
The driver turned northbound on Jackson Street/U.S. 231, and did not deviate from that path for the duration of the pursuit.
However, multiple departments became involved as the pursuit continued into their jurisdictions, first the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, then Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police Lafayette Post, Crawfordsville Police Department and finally, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office.
Along the way, officers also discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Indianapolis.
Officers made multiple attempts to stop the truck along the path, deploying stop sticks in more than one location in Montgomery and Tippecanoe counties.
A bystander took a video in Crawfordsville showing the vehicle, with police in pursuit, already driving with both driver’s-side tires completely gone.
By 12:30 a.m., police scanner reports from northern Montgomery County indicated that the vehicle was still northbound at approximately 60 mph on just one tire.
Later, after another stop stick deployment, all four tires were gone completely as the vehicle continued north of Linden, and later Romney, on four rims, sparking heavily.
“There’s no rubber left on the road,” one officer reported to dispatch.
On the flip side, this also meant the officers could not get close to the vehicle, as it was throwing sparks and losing parts.
“I’m not sure if it’s on fire yet, but it’s smoking,” an officer later reported.
Finally, one of the pursuing officers reported that the vehicle had lost its exhaust and was slowing down.
The truck came to a stop at 7433 South U.S. 231, Lafayette, though officers reportedly still had to tase the suspect and at least have a beanbag shotgun at the ready, according to scanner traffic.
Finally, the female driver, later identified as Kauffman, was reported as detained as of 12:56 a.m.
Medics were disregarded, as there were apparently no serious injuries to the suspect.
Additionally, no officers were reported injured.
Greencastle Police Chief Chris Jones noted that his department lost three tires in the pursuit, but suffered no officer injuries or damage to actual vehicles.
Officer Billy DeWitt booked Kauffman in the Putnam County Jail at 6:05 a.m.