Bloomington police officers arrested a traffic offender Tuesday after he led them on a short car chase near Bryan Park.
Brent Hobbs, 33, is charged with resisting law enforcement and being a habitual traffic offender, both felonies.
At about 9 p.m. a driver headed north on Walnut Street called police and said he was being followed by another vehicle, Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. Dana Cole said. An officer in the area found both cars near the intersection of Walnut and Southern Drive, where he saw one vehicle, a black Toyota, following the other one too closely.
The officer followed the cars, turned on his lights and attempted to stop the Toyota near the intersection of Walnut and Driscoll Drive. The Toyota began to slow down, then accelerated again and turned east onto Grimes Lane.
By the time it reached the next stop sign, at the intersection of Grimes and Washington Street, the officer had his siren on. The Toyota stopped at the stop sign before continuing.
The Toyota pulled into the parking lot of the Free Methodist Church near Grimes and Lincoln Street a block later. Police arrested the driver, Hobbs, and identified him as a habitual offender.
After being read his rights Hobbs told police he had resolved to pull over for police no longer, but during the chase, he reconsidered when he realized he would probably go to jail either way, Cole said. He denied following the other vehicle.
Police also interviewed Hobbs’ passenger, a 28-year-old man. He told them he and Hobbs had been headed toward Smithville, Indiana, when the other car cut them off on the highway and Hobbs decided to follow.
Officers smelled alcohol on Hobbs’s breath, but he passed a sobriety test at police headquarters, Cole said.
Jack Evans
