An attempt by a Crothersville police officer to pull over a vehicle for a traffic infraction resulted in a multiple police agency chase through Jackson County.
Late Tuesday night, Aug. 24, Crothersville Assistant Chief of Police Jonathon Tabor attempted to stop a vehicle on West Main Street in Crothersville for speeding. The pickup did not stop and went west on County Road 600 South.
The pursuit went through the Dudleytown and then through the county to Highway 50 and into Seymour where the vehicle traveled through a private farm lane to New Ford Road. From there it then went west to County Road 400 east and into Cortland.
According to Tabor, “The vehicle then drove though several yards and a fence. The vehicle continued driving at high rates of speed in the Cortland area until being stopped in a soybean field northeast of Cortland.”
The driver of the vehicle, John Edwin Snyder, 37, of the 4100 block of East State Road 258 in Cortland had several firearms in the vehicle including a 9 mm pistol on the driver’s seat, Tabor reported.
“While in the field Snyder used his truck to ram Brownstown Officer John Amis and County Deputy Billy Dishman,” said Tabor. During the incident in the field, Officer Amis received an injury to his hand that was treated at Schneck Medical Center.
Snyder was placed under arrest and transported to Schneck Medical for evaluation before being booked in to Jackson County Jail shortly after midnight where he faces charges of driving while suspended with a prior conviction, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer, reckless driving, criminal recklessness, resisting law enforcement, and damage to property of an agricultural operation. Snyder also had active warrants in both Jennings and Lawrence counties, Tabor said.
Police agencies involved in Snyder’s apprehension were Chief Tom Hanner, Assistant Chief Joe Kelly, Officer John Amis of the Brownstown Police Department; Sheriff Rick Meyer, Chief Deputy Dustin Steward, Sergeant Ben Rudolph, Deputy Billy Dishman, Deputy Kevin Settle, Deputy Justin Amos, Deputy Cy Moss, Detective JL McElfresh of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.