SCOTT CO. – Indiana State Police Troopers in Sellersburg arrested an Austin, Indiana, man after he allegedly stole a city police cruiser and then led officers from multiple agencies on a high-speed pursuit in southern Indiana.
The incident unfolded around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning, officers with the Scottsburg City Police Department were investigating an unrelated call at the I-65 Studio Suites Hotel near Exit 29 in Scottsburg. While out on that call, officers learned that a male had gained entry to one of the marked Scottsburg City Police cars in the hotel parking lot and had driven away.
Officers soon located the stolen police car traveling south on I-65 a few miles south of Scottsburg. When the officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver fled south, sometimes traveling well over 100 miles per hour.
As the car continued south, Scott County and Clark County Sheriff’s Department officers and troopers from the Sellersburg Post joined the pursuit. Officers successfully deployed Stop Stick tire deflation devices near the 12 and 9-mile markers in Clark County. However, despite damage to the tires, the driver continued traveling south at speeds approaching 140 mph.
Master Trooper Rob Caudill maneuvered behind the car in an attempt to stop it using the precision immobilization technique (PIT maneuver). But before that could happen, the driver lost control of the car, veering into the concrete median barrier around the 3-mile marker near Eastern Boulevard. The vehicle eventually stopped as it scraped against the barrier wall.
The driver was 44-year-old Roger W. Stamper of Austin. He exited through the passenger side door of the police car shortly after the crash. Officers utilized a taser to subdue Stamper when he refused to follow commands. Stamper was detained, and after being medically cleared, he was transported to the Scott County Jail on charges of theft of a vehicle, resisting arrest by fleeing in a vehicle, unauthorized use of a vehicle, resisting arrest, aggressive driving, and driving with a suspended driver’s license.
ISP Sergeant Tracy Spencer is investigating the vehicle theft.
