On Thanksgiving Day, just before 5 PM, Jasper Police responded to a report of a white Ford Explorer that struck a mailbox on Skyview Drive and failed to stop.
Officers located the Explorer which was being driven by 56-year-old Jonathan Eckstein. A short time later in the parking lot of Sternberg’s on US 231, Eckstein exited the lot onto US 231, heading southbound. Upon the officer initiating emergency lights and sirens, Eckstein failed to yield and accelerated in an attempt to flee. After brief pursuit in the area, the Ford Explorer then collided with a parked vehicle in the area of Seventh Street and McCrillus Street.
Eckstein exited the vehicle and a brief foot pursuit occurred before he was detained in a yard near Seventh Street and McCrillus Street where he was taken into custody, then taken to Memorial Hospital in reference to medical clearance and blood draw. Eckstein tested with a .15 BAC. He was then transported and lodged in the Dubois County Security Center on two Level 6 Felony charges of Operating While Intoxicated and Resisting Law Enforcement and three Class B Misdemeanors of Criminal Recklessness, Reckless Driving and Leaving a Scene of a Property Damage Accident.
The Jasper Police Department was assisted by the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department and Sternberg’s Wrecker.
