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Last updated on Monday, November 9, 2015
(SPRINGVILLE) - More information has been released regarding the homeless man who was arrested after he stole a Bloomington firefighter’s vehicle and then crashed it on State Road 54 near Springville on Thursday.
According to Bloomington Police Sgt. Joe Crider, the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic, owned by Joseph Gillespie, was stolen while parked at a downtown Bloomington fire station Thursday.
Gillespie says he had parked and locked his car before the start of his shift at 6 a.m. He had put his keys and other items on a table just inside the bay of the fire station.
About 3 p.m., Gillespie received a phone call from Monroe County Community School Corp. personnel saying a good Samaritan had found Gillespie's school-issued laptop in a dumpster on Bloomington's north side. Police say that is when Gillespie discovered his car had been stolen because the computer had been in his vehicle and reported the incident to police.
Firefighters told police they had seen a suspicious man helping himself to a bucket of candy in the fire bay at about 7 that morning.
Hours later, 45-year-old James Hampton crashed that vehicle after he lost control of the car, went over an embankment and through several time while traveling east on Ind. 54 near Springville. The vehicle rolled several times. Hampton matched the description of the man who had been at the fire station earlier in the day.
Hampton had to be free from the wreckage by Perry Volunteer Fire Department first responders and members of the Bedford Fire Department.
Hampton complained of back pain and was treated and released from a local hospital. He was then arrested after police discovered the vehicle had been stolen, they found a gun in the vehicle and that Hampton was driving without a driver's license.
Hampton is facing felony charges of burglary and auto theft. He was also cited for driving without a driver's license. He was taken to the Monroe County Jail where he is being held on a $10,000 surety, $500 cash bond.
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