Sebek
An Indianapolis man was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for charges stemming from a January police chase through central Johnson County.
Joshua Michael Sebek, 28, pled guilty in Johnson County Superior Court 2 last week to resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, a Level 6 felony, and reckless driving causing property damage and leaving the scene of an accident, both misdemeanors. A fourth charge, resisting law enforcement when the defendant knowingly or intentionally flees from law enforcement, was dismissed.
Sebek was sentenced on April 6 to about 2.5 years in prison. He received credit for 86 days that he has already served at the Johnson County jail, and 702 days, or about 2 years, of his sentence was suspended. He will serve 124 days in prison, according to online court records.
The charges stem from an incident on Jan. 12 where a Franklin police officer had observed a red car matching the description of a stolen vehicle traveling northbound on U.S. 31 near Paul Hand Boulevard. Franklin police were notified by the FLOCK license plate reader system the car was traveling southbound on U.S. 31 near Simon Road earlier that day. Police were not able to locate it after the initial notification, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Johnson County Superior Court 2.
The officer made a U-turn to catch up to the vehicle, eventually doing so at a red light on Whiteland Road. The officer observed three people inside the car. The people were not initially wearing seatbelts but put them on, seemingly, after noticing the patrol car behind them, according to the affidavit.
The officer activated his emergency lights and followed the car when the light turned green. The car speed up, eventually reaching speeds up to 100 miles per hour, the affidavit says.
The car fled northbound on U.S. 31 through Whiteland and New Whiteland and ran a red light before entering Greenwood. Once in Greenwood, it continued north, passing Worthsville Road before it approached dense traffic near Stop 18 Road. The driver passed the traffic by driving on the shoulder at a high rate of speed, according to the affidavit.
The stolen vehicle continued north toward Madison Avenue, where Greenwood police had shut down the intersection with U.S. 31 and deployed stop sticks. The driver tried to get around traffic by swerving to the far left lane where it rear-ended another car, the affidavit says.
The driver got out of the car and began running west across U.S. 31 toward Rural King. The two passengers exited the car and walked northbound, where they were later taken into custody. Both passengers denied knowing the vehicle was stolen and said the driver — who one of the passengers identified as Sebek — had picked them up to take them to locations in Johnson County, the affidavit says.
Sebek declined to speak to police, who later informed him he was going to be taken to jail because he was driving a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was confirmed to be stolen from Indianapolis, the affidavit says.
The passengers were released from custody before he was taken to the Johnson County jail, the report says.
