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Man Flees From Police, Crashes ATV

Last updated on Monday, December 30, 2013

(MITCHELL) - A man who fled from police Saturday night ended up crashing the ATV he was driving.

According to a Lawrence County Police report, officers were called to the area of Burton Cemetery Road at 10:18 p.m. after a report of a man on an ATV driving recklessly in the area.

When Lawrence County Police Officer Rob German arrived at the intersection of Fleenor Road and Burton Cemetery Road he found three people on ATVs at the intersection. The ATVs were traveling east on Burton Cemetery Road and German was traveling west on Burton Cemetery Road.

German says the ATV in front did not have any headlights on. He turned on his emergency lights in an attempt to stop the vehicle and that is when the ATV in front drove past him and fled in an unknown direction. The other ATV drivers stopped. German was unable to locate the other ATV but did notice that it was a man with facial hair.

After talking to the other ATV drivers, German continued to patrol the area.

He located the ATV traveling east on Parks Implement Road. When he arrived at the intersection of Parks Implement Road and Ind. 37 the gray 2007 Yamaha YFZ450 was parked near the stop sign and no one was around the vehicle.

There was a Department of Natural Resources sticker on the vehicle. The vehicle was towed and while that was being done, officer Wheelock arrived on the scene and thought he saw a body lying in the corn field near the intersection. An ambulance was called to the scene.

The man, 25-year-old Christopher Fleenor, of Mitchell, lifted his head and told police he didn't need an ambulance.

Fleenor told police that someone else was driving the vehicle and they had "flipped him off it and into the cornfield".

Fleenor told police that he saw the officer turn on his emergency lights, but the driver decided to flee instead of stopping.

Fleenor told police that he wasn't sure what the man's name was that was driving the ATV but it was either John Ableton or John Albertson. He also told police that the driver was from either Fayetteville or Bloomington.

He also told police that the ATV had caught fire, but police say there was no sign of the vehicle being on fire. But police say there was damage to the ATV as if it had been involved in an accident.

Fleenor then told police that he had head pain and that he thought he had suffered a concussion, but he refused medical attention from Marion Volunteer Fire Department first responders or the Seals ambulance crew.

The accident remains under investigation.

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