A high speed pursuit along Interstate 69 spanning multiple counties Tuesday afternoon ended with the arrest of a Lawrence County man.
At 12:15 pm yesterday, dispatcher with the Indiana State Police Regional Dispatch Center in Bloomington sent out a call for troopers in the area of I-69 to look for a gray 2000 Buick sedan they say was driven 24-year old Bradley Barger of Bedford.
Police say Barger was wanted on two active warrants through Lawrence County for domestic violence charges. Lawrence County authorities say Barger was southbound on I-69, passing State Road 58.
A trooper spotted Barger just after a quarter after 12 southbound on I-69 at the 65.5 mile marker (3.5 miles north of Washington) and began following him, requesting that additional officers follow before attempting to pull Barger over.
Then at the 59 mile marker, after having additional troopers with him, the trooper attempted to conduct a traffic stop of which Barger failed to pull over, accelerating from speeds near 80 miles an hour to in excess of 100 MPH.
Police say their pursuit continued southbound through Pike County and into Gibson. Troopers were positioned north of the 33 mile marker at the State Road 64 / Huntingburg, Princeton exit to attempt to deploy tire deflation devices.
They say as Barger approached the “stop sticks”, he swerved and crashed into a bridge. Barger exited his vehicle and attempted to jump off of the bridge and into the Patoka River.
Troopers grabbed Barger to keep him from jumping. The physical restraint ended in a fight in which Barger struck one trooper in an effort to continue trying to jump. He was taken into custody justa fter 12:30 pm.
Barger was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville for treatment of lacerations incurred during the crash. He was released from hospital care and transported to the Gibson County Jail where he was booked on a level 6 Felony Count of Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle as well as a Class A Misdemeanor Count of Battery on a Police Officer.
