An Evansville man is accused of abandoning his child and leading police on a two-state chase.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that 27-year-old Tevin Woodruff was wanted for a parole violation when officers spotted him in a car near Maryland St. and Second Ave. Tuesday afternoon.
A Sheriff’s deputy tried to stop the vehicle, but police said Woodruff sped across Columbia Street and turned onto Maryland, where the vehicle came to an abrupt stop.
The sheriff’s office said Woodruff got out of the car, and a deputy told him to surrender.
But he instead grabbed his 5-year-old child out of the back of the car, pushed him onto the sidewalk, and then sped away.
The chase continued to Downtown Evansville, including Riverside Drive, where the sheriff’s office said Woodruff sped and aggressively swerved around other vehicles.
The pursuit reached Highway 41, where Woodruff reportedly hit a sheriff’s cruiser before heading across the Twin Bridges.
Police in Henderson deployed stop sticks to deflate the car’s tires, and the vehicle eventually crashed into an embankment near State Road 425.
Officers, including a Vanderburgh County K-9 unit, apprehended Woodruff in a wooded area.
The sheriff’s office said Woodruff violated the terms of his 2017 parole after serving two years in state prison for Dealing Methamphetamine and Neglect of a Dependant.
He now faces several new charges, including child neglect.
