April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Hope police chase escaped fugitive
The wanted man, 26-year-old Dustin Allen Evans, escaped from the Edinburgh Police Department in downtown Columbus about a week ago, while he was being transferred to the Bartholomew County Jail. He is wanted on warrants from Bartholomew, Scott and Johnson counties.
Marshal Matt Tallent reports that Hope Officer Benjamin Wallace received a tip that Evans was at Huck's Gas Station, at about 7:24 p.m. Wednesday night. Wallace found Evans at one of the gas pumps and ordered the fugitive to surrender, but instead he allegedly drove away on State Road 9 and Wallace took chase.
Evans drove onto Midway Drive where it dead-ends with the Hitchcock Drive cul-de-sac, where he left the vehicle and ran away. Wallace chased him but soon lost sight of Evans, the marshal says.
Hope officers, the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department and Indiana State Police cordoned off the area around Goshen Meadows and searched the area with a Columbus police dog. Despite searching for more than an hour, Evans was not found again, Tallent said.
Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox said that Evans is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. He has several distinctive tattoos, including one on his left temple that reads "Misunderstood." On his right forearm, he has a tattoo of the character "Stewie" from the "Family Guy" cartoon.
Authorities said that Edinburgh Police had captured Evans on Nov. 17 and took him to the Bartholomew County Jail. But because of a suspected medical condition, the jail had the Edinburgh officer transport Evans to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out. On the way back to the jail from the hospital, Evans said he was sick and the officer stopped the car near Eighth Street and Central Avenue to let Evans vomit. After being put back in the patrol car, Evans opened the door and escaped, running away while still handcuffed.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Edinburgh Police Department at (812) 526-3501.[[In-content Ad]]
