BROWNSTOWN – Two people are behind bars following a vehicle pursuit through two counties on Tuesday, April 18th.
Police arrested the driver 28-year-old Jamotrae Bennett, of Columbus and his passenger 19-year-old Nyasia Bragg, of Seymour.
Bennett and Bragg are facing charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, reckless driving, possession of marijuana, possession of synthetic urine and operating a vehicle while never licensed.
Bragg is also facing charges of possession of a narcotic drug, trafficking with an inmate, false informing.
At 7:51 p.m. Tuesday, while patrolling in the Bobtown Township in Jackson County, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Officer Kevin Settle was traveling south on County Road 525 East when he observed a gray Pontiac G6 going north without a registration license plate, according to a news release from Sheriff Rick Meyer.
Settle turned around and attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, and it came to a stop just inside of Bartholomew County on County Road 180 West.
When Settle exited his patrol vehicle, the Pontiac took off traveling north at a high rate of speed. Sheriff Meyer said Officer Settle pursued the vehicle east on County Road 1050 South into Bartholomew County, where the vehicle ran off of the roadway and into a yard.
The driver, later identified as Bennett, was able to regain control of the vehicle and get back on the roadway traveling south on County Road 80 West in Bartholomew County. The vehicle then turned east back into Jackson County onto County Road 1100 North and continued fleeing at a high rate of speed.
At the intersection of County Road 1100 North and State Road 11, Officer Billy Dishman had stop sticks set up in an attempt to deflate the vehicle’s tires. The Pontiac struck the stop sticks and continued to flee north on State Road 11.
At this point, Officer Dishman and fellow Trooper Jordan Hawn and Scott Ferguson, and officers from the Seymour Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department had joined in the pursuit.
During the pursuit, Bennett stopped several times and then took off again at high rates of speed, and the Pontiac eventually became immobilized near the intersection of County Road 850 South and State Road 11 in Bartholomew County, said Sheriff Meyer.
Toward the end of the pursuit, Bragg switched seats with Bennett and attempted to flee herself until the vehicle became immobilized, said Sheriff Meyer.
Once the vehicle stopped, Bennett and Bragg were arrested.
Sheriff Meyer reported officers found THC marijuana wax in Bennett’s possession and synthetic urine was located inside the vehicle.
At the jail, jail staff located 6.9 grams of marijuana and 10.6 grams of heroin/fentanyl concealed on Bragg.
