Stolen Cincinnati school bus chased into Indiana cornfield, suspect in custody

Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read
A pursuit of a school bus stolen in Cincinnati Tuesday in Decatur and Shelby counties in Indiana has come to a safe conclusion with a suspect in custody.
A pursuit of a school bus stolen in Cincinnati Tuesday in Decatur and Shelby counties in Indiana has come to a safe conclusion with a suspect in custody.

A school bus stolen in East Walnut Hills on Tuesday led police from several agencies on a long pursuit through several counties in Indiana and ended with the bus in a cornfield and a suspect facing charges.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said the chase started Tuesday morning at around 10:15 a.m. when the Indiana State Police-Versailles Post was contacted by Ohio authorities reporting a yellow 2021 school bus had been stolen from the Cincinnati area. They said it was being tracked as it traveled west on Interstate 74 near Batesville, Indiana.

A Batesville police officer and two Indiana State troopers located the bus and followed it as it entered Decatur County, Indiana. The troopers tried to stop the bus, which was taken from Grandview Avenue.  The suspect and lone occupant of the school bus, Chad Avery Murdock, 32, of Cincinnati, did not stop and fled from the officers in the bus.

Wheeles said in a press release the bus traveled off the interstate onto several county and state roads, eventually going off-road into numerous fields and yards. Officers from multiple departments joined the pursuit as the bus entered Shelby County.

Officers were eventually able to deploy a tire deflation device successfully which caused the tires on the bus to deflate.  At about 11:15 am, officers boxed the bus in as it drove through a cornfield, causing Murdock to stop the bus near County Road 25 East, just south of Shelbyville in Shelby County, Indiana.

Murdock was then taken into custody without further incident.

Wheeles said multiple police vehicles were damaged due to collisions with the bus during the pursuit. Several fields and yards also were damaged due to Murdock’s actions, he said.

Neither Murdock nor any of the police officers involved were injured during the incident.

Murdock was taken to the Decatur County Jail where he was being held on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement, criminal recklessness with a vehicle, possession of stolen property, and criminal mischief.  Additional charges are possible.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Suspect charged after Indiana police stop stolen Cincinnati school bus