Published: May 14, 2008 07:26 pm            

Interrupted auto theft ends with chase

Two suspects get away

An unidentified suspect attempting to steal items from unlocked vehicles led police on a vehicle-and-foot chase, and fled Zionsville in a stolen car.

A woman in Cobblestone Lakes heard her dog barking late Monday night, May 5, and when she let the dog outside, she saw someone in her car, Zionsville Town Marshal Rick Dowden said. The suspect fled the scene on foot and she called the police. The only description she could give was of a man in dark pants.

As officers responded to the scene, a ZPD officer stopped a white mini-van exiting Wren Way — a street next to the Cobblestone Lakes subdivision — onto Whitestown Road for a traffic violation, Dowden said. The driver, described as a white male wearing a dark sweatshirt, tan pants, a black hat with NY on it, and reddish hair with a thin goatee, gave the officer false information. After checking the information, the officer got back out of his vehicle to walk to the mini-van, and the man drove away. Police later discovered the mini-van was stolen from an address on Wren Way.

The suspect drove south on Ford Road, Dowden said, and entered the Quail Run apartment complex, striking a park bench and grill. He ended up at a dead end, and fled on foot onto the Rail Trail.

The police set up a perimeter and called in K-9 units from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The dogs tracked the suspect but never found him.

Police believe the suspect stole another vehicle and fled Zionsville, Dowden said. The next morning, John Busse of Zionsville reported a vehicle stolen from Colony Court, which is near the pathway where the suspect fled on foot.

That vehicle was later found by the IMPD in Indianapolis on Ohio Street near Highland Avenue. It was returned to the owner undamaged.

Dowden said he believes the two men were working together to either steal cars or items from cars. He also wanted to remind everyone to lock their vehicles because all the vehicles involved had unlocked doors; the ones stolen had keys in the vehicle.

In addition, a stolen tan Chrysler Sebring was found the afternoon of May 6 by ZPD on Village Walk Drive and identified as one that was connected to a string of thefts in Westfield in the days leading up to May 5. Dowden believes the suspects used that vehicle, too.

        

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