Man arrested for car theft, eluding police

Officers from the Bloomington Police Department responded at about 8:45 a.m. Saturday after a witness reported a man crashed a vehicle into a telephone pole near the intersection of South Rockport Road and West Graham Drive.

When police arrived, BPD Sgt. Lucas Tate said, they located the crashed vehicle, a red 1994 Chrysler LeBaron that had been reported stolen to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers first located the suspect, 18-year-old Taiveon T. Taylor, on the 400 block of South Rockport Road near Country View Apartments. Tate said Taylor allegedly jumped a fence and ran from police.

After police searched the area around Country View Apartments, Tate said Taylor was located west of the apartment complex and had since removed his shirt. Police then arrested Taylor.

Once Taylor arrived at the Monroe County Jail, Tate said Taylor then resisted jail staff, removed his belt and tried to use the buckle as a weapon. Jail staff restrained Taylor and no one was injured, Tate said.
 
Preliminary charges against Taylor include possession of stolen property, a class D felony; resisting arrest, a class A misdemeanor; and illegal consumption of alcohol, a class D misdemeanor.

This is not Taylor’s first run-in with law enforcement this month, according to Monroe County Circuit Court records. On May 14, Taylor was charged with illegal consumption of alcohol and resisting law enforcement.

— Mark Keierleber