MIDDLETOWN — A Florida man has been arrested after leading the Middletown Police Department on a high speed chase in a Google Street View car.
The chase started Monday evening around 5:00 p.m. after police Chief Landon Dean noticed a car passing several other vehicles at a high rate of speed in front of Shenandoah High School, heading westbound on US 36. Chief Dean noted the vehicle was driving in excess of 100 miles per hour at that time.
Chief Dean identified the speeding vehicle as a Google Mapping car, mounted with several 360 degrees cameras on top of the car. Dean began to pursue the vehicle, and was able to catch up to it in the 8500 block of West US 36 in Henry County. Dean noted that the Google car continued at speeds of more than 100 mph as it continued to pass other vehicles. According to the release, the Google car refused to stop.
The pursuit continued on for several miles, crossing over into Madison County. The Google car eventually tuned south off of US 36 just east of Pendleton, where the driver eventually lost control of the car, driving through a yard, then into a creek, where it became stuck.
The driver was taken into custody following the crash, for resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 Felony. The driver told police that he was scared to stop. WRTV is not naming the suspect, as he has not been formally charged at this time. Potential formal charges would come from the Henry County Prosecutor's Office.
The suspect was taken to Henry Community Health Hospital in New Castle for further evaluation, then transported to the Henry County Jail.
