Man crashes stolen Jeep full of stolen electronics into utility pole

A man crashed a stolen vehicle full of stolen electronics into a utility pole early Sunday morning in the 600 block of North Washington Street and then fled the scene, police said.

The Bloomington Police Department responded to a the crash to find a stolen Jeep Rubicon along with two laptops, two Xboxs and two flat-screen TVs, said BPD Lt. David Drake and student Emanuele D’Artibale.

After the accident, the driver fled the scene before BPD arrived and is said to have minor injuries sustained during the crash.

D’Artibale, a 29-year-old Ph.D. student, was lying in bed with his girlfriend at a friend’s house when he heard a loud screech of tires and the sound of a collision.

The driver smashed his head against the windshield of the jeep when he crashed it into a utility pole, causing the vehicle to shatter where his head hit. D’Artibale’s friend, Alex Schultze, came outside first, as the accident occurred immediately in front of Schultze’s residence. The driver, bleeding from his nose, got out of the car and asked Schultze for a towel, which Schultze provided along with a frozen bag of corn for an ice pack, D’Artibale said.

D’Artibale came outside his friend’s residence five minutes after he heard the collision. When he went outside he said the driver of the Jeep fled northwest in response to police lights closing in.

D’Artibale figured that since the Rubicon was a manually operated vehicle, the driver might not have known how to operate it. Neighbors near the scene came outside when they heard the commotion and began to recognize their belongings in and around the jeep.

The suspect is white, estimated 5 feet, 10 inches tall, 160 pounds and was seen wearing a white button-down shirt with a V-neck and blue jeans.