(VANDERBURGH) – Two men were arrested Wednesday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. after an Indiana State Police trooper saw a 2005 Jaguar traveling left of center on Broadway near Bayou Creek Road.
A traffic stop was initiated and the driver of the Jaguar turned into a residence off Broadway, but then suddenly turned around in the yard and fled east on Broadway accelerating to 60 miles per hour.
The trooper terminated the chase due to safety concerns.
The trooper then received a call reporting the vehicle crashed off Broadway at Nurrenbern Road.
The driver and passenger had fled from the vehicle.
The trooper spotted the passenger running through a backyard and gave chase. Moments later the passenger was arrested without further incident.
The passenger was identified at 23-year-old Kwauntai Flax, of Evansville.
After securing the passenger, the trooper observed the driver running east through a yard near a wood line. A short time later, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department deputies located the driver hiding in the woods. He was taken into custody without further incident. The driver was identified as 22-year-old Brett Salmon, of Evansville.
Salmon and Flax were having difficulty breathing, so they were both transported by an ambulance to Deaconess Midtown Hospital where they were treated and then released.
Troopers determined Salmon and Flax were under the influence of K2 or the drug Spice, a synthetic marijuana.
Salmon had also struck another vehicle on Broadway causing minor injuries to the female driver. She was not transported to an area hospital.
Both men were transported to the Vanderburgh County Jail.
Salmon is facing charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, resisting law enforcement by fleeing, operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing injury, OWI, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, and operating a vehicle while never receiving a license. He is currently being held without bond.
Flax is facing a charge of resisting law enforcement. He is currently being held on a $100 bond.
