Martin
A Columbus man has pled guilty and been sentenced for evading police during a January pursuit in southern Johnson County.
Bruce L. Martin, 36, pleaded guilty to resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and knowingly operating a vehicle without ever receiving a license, a misdemeanor, in Johnson County Superior Court 3 on May 9. He was sentenced to 500 days in a correctional facility with a jail credit of 116 days. A second charge of resisting law enforcement as a misdemeanor was merged with the felony charge as part of the sentencing. He also received a two-year license suspension, online court records say.
His sentence is to run consecutively, or back-to-back, with sentences rendered in separate cases out of Jennings, Decatur and Bartholomew counties. Martin is facing felony charges in Bartholomew and Jennings counties for drug charges, while in Decatur County, he was facing a theft charge. He was sentenced to 370 days in jail on that charge after pleading guilty earlier this month, online court records show.
Martin was arrested after a deputy from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, who was patrolling near Amity at U.S. 31 and County Road 250 South on the evening of Jan. 13, observed a sedan driving southbound with a loud exhaust. The deputy did a routine license plate check, which showed the registration belonged to an SUV, and not a sedan, according to a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office report.
The deputy activated his emergency lights and attempted to stop the sedan near County Road 550 East and U.S 31. The vehicle turned onto CR 550 East before making an unsignaled right turn at Amity Community Volunteer Fire Department, the report says.
The deputy called backup and pursued the sedan. Martin drove the vehicle behind the building, before going down a hill and stopping near the wood line. Martin left the vehicle and fled on foot, according to the report.
Deputies, with assistance from a K-9, located Martin east of where he left the vehicle. The K-9 caught up with Martin and bit him, which concluded the pursuit, the report says.
Four passengers, including a one-year-old, stayed in the car. The passengers identified Martin as the driver, and said they were heading back to Columbus after a trip to Greenwood, the report says.
The passengers told the deputies they didn’t know why Martin ran, according to the report.
Martin was arrested and treated at a local hospital for the dog bite. While at the hospital, he told police he had used methamphetamine in the last 24 hours, the report says.
Deputies ran his name through state information systems and discovered he had two outstanding felony warrants, and that he had never had an Indiana driver’s license, the report says.
