An Indianapolis man was arrested after he led multiple police agencies on a high-speed chase up Interstate 65, and attempted to create a diversion by reporting his car stolen.
Jeffrey Dwight Carpenter, 20, was arrested on charges of resisting law enforcement and driving while suspended with a prior conviction.
Carpenter was also issued citations for speeding, unsafe lane movement, reckless driving, failure to signal lane changes, following too closely, improper passing and failure to signal his exit turn following the Saturday incident.
About 2:10 p.m. a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy was sitting on Interstate 65 at the 90 mile marker, near Franklin, when he saw a car driven by Carpenter pass him at a speed of 156 mph, according to a report from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
The officer attempted to stop Carpenter, but he did not stop, weaved in and out of traffic and used the shoulder of the road to pass vehicles, the report said.
Carpenter exited the interstate onto Whiteland Road, but the sheriff’s deputy could not safely exit the interstate, according to the report.
A Whiteland Police Department officer told dispatch he would look for Carpenter’s red Dodge. The officer spotted the vehicle parked in front of a gas station with the car’s engine still running, the report said.
A Johnson County dispatcher told the sheriff’s deputy that Carpenter had called and reported his car stolen out of Edinburgh, according to the report.
A witness told police he saw Carpenter exit the car after almost side swiping his truck. The Whiteland officer saw a man who matched Carpenter’s description standing near a restaurant and arrested him, the report said.
Carpenter told police his car was stolen, then said someone was chasing him. He also told police he was listening to a police scanner and did not stop because he was scared of police brutality, according to the report.
Carpenter also told police he was in Edinburgh where he got into an altercation with a man who waved a gun at him and began chasing him. Police told Carpenter they did not see him being chased on the interstate, the report said.
He then admitted to police he reported his car stolen to create a diversion, according to the report.
Carpenter, 405 Brassport Drive, was taken to the Johnson County jail, where he was released on $2,200 bond.
