A man who entered a Batesville home illegally in the middle of the night, then stole a police car was captured early Monday, Oct. 22, after a rural roads and highway chase, according to Batesville Lt. Jeff Thielking.

At 3:35 a.m. a Ripley County dispatcher summoned officers to the home of Leonard Nobbe on North County Road 50 West. They were told “a suspect was being held at gunpoint by the homeowner,” the news release said. Batesville Patrolman Danny Hamilton and Cpl. Dave Abel and Ripley County Deputy Abe Hildebrand responded to the call.

Hamilton took the suspect, identified as Carson Back, 22, Batesville, into custody, handcuffing him and placing him in the cage of his police car.

“When their attention was directed back toward the house,” and Hamilton stepped away from his vehicle, Back managed to get his handcuffed hands from behind him to in front of him, somehow escaped the cage, “hopped in the front seat and took off,” according to the lieutenant.

He led police “back and forth, east and west,” near Napoleon and on State Road 48, where police had placed stop sticks that flattened the left front tire of the stolen car about halfway through the chase, Thielking reported.

Then Back raced north on State Road 129, through Pearl Street and downtown Batesville and entered I-74 westbound.

The number of police in pursuit grew from two to many, Thielking said. “By the time you get to the end, you’ve got an army of officers everywhere.”

Back exited the interstate at New Point, where he lost control of the car in a parking lot near County Road 850 East and State Road 46, which ended the pursuit at 4:19 a.m. “No one was hurt,” the officer reported.

The suspect was arrested a second time and transported to the Ripley County Jail.

Thielking considered the incident “extremely serious. He jeopardized the lives of all the police officers who were trying to stop him – and his own. Any time there’s a pursuit it’s a dangerous situation.”

Initially Back was charged with four felonies: residential entry, auto theft, escape and resisting law enforcement by fleeing. Other misdemeanor charges could be added. “We’re still in the process of investigating this,” he explained.

In his 20 years with the department, Thielking said a police car had never been stolen before. The vehicle had some damage to the left front quarter panel and wheel and was taken to Tri-County Collision Center.

In addition to Batesville police, other agencies involved in the pursuit were sheriff’s departments in Ripley, Franklin and Decatur counties; Greensburg Police Department; and Indiana State Police.

Debbie Blank can be contacted at (812) 934-4343, Ext. 113; or debbie.blank@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com. To comment on stories, visit batesvilleheraldtribune.com.