Muncie man injured in crash charged with auto theft, battering police
MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man seriously injured in a Hancock County crash while being pursued by police now faces related criminal charges in Madison County.
Jeremiah Gordon Young, 33, was taken to an Indianapolis hospital on May 31 after a car he was driving left Morristown Pike in Greenfield and struck a utility pole and several trees.
The Muncie man was later charged .— in Madison Circuit Court 1 — with battery resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer, possession of cocaine, resisting law enforcement, auto theft, criminal recklessness and driving while intoxicated.
According to an affidavit by an Indiana State Police trooper, Young stole his former girlfriend's 2014 Lincoln MKZ from outside her Tyrone Drive home in Muncie early in the morning on May 31.
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The vehicle contained a tracking device, and Anderson police were later told the stolen vehicle was outside a hotel on that city's south side.
When Anderson officers approached the MKZ, Young reportedly left the vehicle and told them the report the car had been stolen was based on a misunderstanding.
However, according to the affidavit, the Muncie man then led the officers on a foot chase before re-entering the car and struggling with one of his pursuers, allegedly biting that officer's forearm.
Young then fled in the car, with the officer briefly remaining in the vehicle before he jumped out.
Authorities continued to track the vehicle as it traveled south on I-69 to I-465 in Indianapolis, then went east on I-70 before taking the Ind. 9 exit in Hancock County.
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A chase — involving Indiana State Police, Hancock County sheriff's deputies and Greenfield police — preceded the one-vehicle crash on Greenfield's Morristown Pike.
State troopers reported finding a bag containing cocaine in the crashed vehicle.
Along with the charges filed against him in Madison County, Young also faces two felony counts — stalking and residential entry — filed last month in Delaware Circuit Court 2.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man seriously injured in crash faces charges in Madison County
