A wanted Illinois man dragged six different law enforcement agencies across two states and through open fields trying to dodge tire-deflation devices before he was finally taken into custody, according to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana.
Ethan Glidewell, 33, of Greenup, Illinois, was already wanted on aggravated battery and auto theft charges out of Illinois when deputies say he crossed into Indiana’s Sullivan County in a stolen vehicle. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office was tipped off that Glidewell was headed their way from Crawford County, Illinois, and pursuit units began tracking him almost as soon as he crossed the state line.
Off-roading to dodge the spike strips
Deputies say Glidewell repeatedly steered off the roadway to avoid tire-deflation devices set up ahead of him. At the intersection of State Road 154 and County Road 125 East, a Sullivan County deputy and a Shelburn police officer managed to get stop sticks under his tires, and Glidewell hit them, but kept driving anyway, according to police.
The pursuit stretched through Sullivan and Vigo counties before Glidewell eventually crossed back into Illinois, where he was taken into custody in Crawford County. In total, six agencies took part in the chase: the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, the Farmersburg Police Department, the Vigo County Sheriff’s Office, the Shelburn Police Department and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.
Facing charges in two states
Glidewell was taken to Crawford County Hospital for a medical evaluation before being booked into the Crawford County Jail, where he now awaits extradition proceedings to face additional charges in Indiana on top of the Illinois warrants that triggered the chase in the first place.
Six agencies, two states, and the question nobody asked
Strip out the off-roading detail and what remains is a multi-county pursuit involving six law enforcement agencies across two states, over warrants for aggravated battery and auto theft. Whether that was worth it is a genuine question, and it is the one pursuit policy exists to answer.
Police pursuits kill people, and a meaningful share of those killed are bystanders and passengers rather than the driver being chased. That research is why many departments have narrowed their policies over the past two decades, often restricting pursuits to violent felonies. Aggravated battery clears that bar in most policies. Auto theft frequently does not. Here the two travel together, which is exactly the ambiguous case these rules are written for.
The spike strips are the detail worth sitting with
Deputies deployed tire-deflation devices, Glidewell drove over them, and kept going. That happens more often than the phrase “stop sticks” implies. Deflation devices are designed to let air out gradually rather than blow a tire instantly, precisely so the vehicle does not lose control at speed, which means a determined driver can continue for miles on flattening tires. Anyone picturing them as an off-switch has the wrong model.
That matters for how this ended. The pursuit continued through Sullivan and Vigo counties and back across the state line before he was taken into custody in Crawford County. No one was reported hurt, which is the outcome everyone wanted and not one the tactics guaranteed. An honest reading is that this ended well rather than that it was made to end well, and those are different things.
Sources: WTHI-TV · My Wabash Valley
Related from BeezLoop: Stolen Nissan Leads LAPD on Wild Overnight Chase Across Los Angeles Freeways, Ends With…, Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Caught Hiding Inside a Converse Home After Nearly Two-Week… and Philadelphia's 'Chucky Mask' Suspect Fled Cross-Country to Las Vegas Before U.S. Marshals….
