An April 20 police chase that started in Owen County and ended in Sullivan County landed a 35-year-old Bloomington man in jail on 10 felony charges.
The incident started with reports of a naked man driving a pickup truck recklessly through Owen County. Later, when the man was driving in southern Vigo County, he veered into a residential driveway about 10 p.m. and struck a man who had just exited his car , police said.
The second man was hurt, as was a passenger still inside the car the truck had crashed into. The man told police he fired eight to 10 bullets at the naked suspect, who then climbed out of his wrecked truck and started running.
The naked suspect “leaped out of the window of his truck before he ran away,” a Vigo County Sheriff’s Office news release said.
He then reportedly stole a nearby vehicle; state police tracked it down and chased him. The driver was eventually stopped in Sullivan County and taken to a hospital for treatment of several gunshot wounds sustained earlier.
The suspect, 35-year-old Dustin Lee Roecker, faces two counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, battery by means of a deadly weapon, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, two counts of auto theft and resisting law enforcement.
After being released from the hospital, Roecker was taken to the Vigo County Jail, where he’s being held on $100,000 bond.
The sheriff’s department reported Roecker was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The initial investigation “does not indicate any type of relationship or previous interactions between the victims and suspect,” the news release said. “However, the investigation is ongoing.”
Roecker appeared on a video link with his public defender at an April 29 court hearing. An Aug. 8 pre-trial conference was scheduled as was an Oct. 15 trial.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington man shot, then charged with 10 felonies after multi-county pursuit
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