BLOOMINGTON — A man is facing several charges after police say he fired off a gun at apartment complex and crashed head-on into a Bloomington police car during a chase.
William Garrett, 32, is charged with battery against a police officer, a Level 5 felony; resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and criminal recklessness, both Level 6 felonies.
He also faces Class A misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, unlawful carrying of a handgun and resisting law enforcement.
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According to court documents, Bloomington Police responded to a report of shots fired at the apartments on South Odell Drive around 2 a.m. Monday. Police found several shell casings in the snow around a parking space.
In security camera footage of the incident, police observed a white Jeep with the driver door open and the driver sticking a gun out of the window firing off several round into the air before driving away.
On Ring doorbell footage, police reportedly observed Garrett walking around outside the apartment.
While police were investigating, a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy responding to the apartment complex passed a white Jeep going 60 mph on South Walnut Street, appearing “as if it was trying to get away from something.”
According to court documents, the deputy turned around and tried to catch up to the Jeep, but with snow-covered roads the Jeep was able to keep going before the deputy eventually caught up to it.
The deputy reported the Jeep had left the road and traveled on the sidewalk and the deputy then tried to pull over the vehicle.
Garrett reportedly stopped after a short time, and, as the deputy gave commands to get out of the car, Garrett allegedly drove off down Pinestone Court.
According to court documents, the deputy followed and blocked Garrett from driving out of the dead-end road. While held at gunpoint, court documents state Garrett yelled profanities at the deputy before allegedly drove off through the year, hitting a Bloomington Police car head on.
The officer was able to grab and try to get Garrett out of the car, but Garrett reportedly resisted. The deputy used a taser and was able to get him out of the car and into handcuffs.
The crash left heavy front-end damage to the police car and caused the airbags to deploy. The officer was taken to the hospital for injured to his wrist, head and chest.
Garrett was taken to the hospital for a blood draw. According to court documents, Garrett smelled like alcohol, had slurred speech and glassy eyes. The results of the alcohol test are still pending.
Garrett had an initial hearing in court Wednesday, entering a plea of not guilty. He is being held in the jail without bond for violating his pretrial release conditions for a separate weapons case filed in Dec. 2022.
If convicted, Garrett faces up to six years for a Level 5 felony and up to two and a half years for each Level 6 felony, according to Indiana sentencing guidelines.
