4/28/20 Jefferson County, IN – Suspect Steals Indiana State Police Car Right From Trooper’s Driveway – Crashed In A Ditch – Fled On Foot – Arrested

April 28, 2020

www.madisoncourier.com

A Madison man is accused of stealing an Indiana State Police vehicle from the driveway of the trooper’s Jefferson County residence and then crashing it just a couple of miles minutes later just a couple of miles from the scene.

At approximately 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 24, the trooper reported that the truck belonging to the Indiana State Police was stolen from his residence on State Road 62 in rural Jefferson County, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the ISP Versailles Post.

The trooper had been working on equipment in the vehicle used by a state police specialty team when the male suspect, later identified as Vincent L. Wiefling, 29, of Madison, approached the residence on foot. Wiefling entered the vehicle without being seen by the trooper and drove it away from the scene northbound on State Road 62, Wheeles said. Two witnesses to the theft followed Wiefling in the truck until law enforcement could respond.

Wiefling crashed the vehicle in a ditch less than two miles from the theft and then fled from the vehicle on foot, Wheeles said. Numerous law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and Wiefling was soon located hiding in a nearby wooded area and was taken into custody.

Wiefling was transported to the Jefferson County Jail where he was incarcerated on preliminary charges of auto theft, resisting law enforcement, criminal trespass, operating while intoxicated, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident.

Investigators later learned that Wiefling had just been released from the custody of the Jefferson County Jail earlier Friday morning. He has previously served time in the county jail for felony theft, counterfeiting and drug charges.

Wiefling is being held at the Jefferson County Jail pending his initial appearance in court. Indiana State Police was assisted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Hanover Police Department and Madison Police Department.