BEDFORD – A Mitchell man was arrested on a slew of charges, including driving with a suspended license with a prior conviction, resisting arrest by fleeing, residential entry, and multiple drug offenses, after attempting to evade police and entering an occupied apartment without permission.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Bedford Police Officer J. Landon Jones, the incident began around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. Officer Jones and Officer Bower were patrolling on 29th Street near Ted Jones Drive when they observed a white BMW attempting to exit an apartment complex parking lot. Officer Jones noted the driver, later identified as Shawn A. Sondergard, 43, of Mitchell, appeared to accelerate at a high rate of speed after making eye contact with the patrol vehicle.
Officers turned their vehicle around to follow the BMW, which quickly turned back into the apartment complex and accelerated again. Officers located the BMW parked crookedly across two parking spaces, but the male driver had exited. A female passenger was seen walking away from the vehicle.
The female passenger reportedly told officers she did not know the driver and did not want to speak with them. Officers returned to the BMW, which displayed an Indiana license plate that returned to a gray 1998 Jeep. While running the plate, officers observed a man matching the driver’s description running from behind a building and east through the complex.
Officers located Davis speaking with three other males, one of whom stated the man in the red shirt had run into an abandoned apartment. After setting up a perimeter, officers approached the abandoned apartment, and Sondergard emerged, sweating and breathing heavily.
Sondergard’s driver’s license revealed he was suspended with a prior conviction. After being read his Miranda Rights, Sondergard allegedly admitted to driving the BMW and attempting to evade police because he did not want his vehicle impounded. He admitted he entered the abandoned apartment and hid in the crawl space to avoid going back to jail.
A K-9 unit conducted a free-air sniff of the BMW, alerting to the odor of narcotics on the front passenger side. A subsequent search of the vehicle reportedly yielded a glass smoking device containing crystal meth, a loaded syringe, and a prescription bottle containing Buprenorphine pills.
During a search of Sondergard’s person, he allegedly admitted ownership of the loaded syringe and the glass smoking device.
While officers searched the area, an apartment complex resident reported that Sondergard had entered his apartment without permission, claiming to be with maintenance before being told to leave. Sondergard admitted to entering the apartment but denied jumping off the second-floor balcony.
Shawn A. Sondergard was arrested and transported to the Lawrence County Jail on preliminary charges of driving while his driver’s license was suspended with a prior conviction, resisting arrest by fleeing, residential entry, possession of meth, unlawful possession of a syringe, possession of a Schedule III substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
An affidavit of probable cause outlines the investigating officer’s belief that a crime has been committed. Criminal charges are accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
