Police: Missouri man stole ATV, fled from police

Police arrested a 24-year-old Missouri man on June 21 after he fled from an Indiana Conservation Officer while riding an ATV he stole earlier that day. A K9 officer was credited with finding him.

Jonathan Hassinger was charged June 24 with resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony; auto theft, a Level 6 felony; and criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor.

ICO Joseph Tenbarge was patrolling on Old State Road 46 near the Brown County Fairgrounds when Hassinger passed him on the road driving a green ATV. It is currently illegal to drive an ATV on a public road except for in certain circumstances. When Tenbarge tried to stop Hassinger, he turned around and sped off, passing two vehicles in front of him, the probable cause affidavit states.

Noting Hassinger’s “evasive maneuvers,” Tenbarge turned his lights and sirens off. He slowed to the speed limit and proceeded down Old State Road 46 near Clay Lick Road. He noticed a green ATV in a cornfield. Tenbarge began walking along the creek bank, announcing his presence, but did not receive a response, the affidavit states.

ICO Brent Bohbrink arrived on scene with K9 Moose. Moose found Hassinger along the creek bank in the same area as the ATV. He had been hiding along the water edge in a washout, according to the affidavit.

Hassinger told police he had come to Indiana to visit his father in Zionsville, then, he came to Brown County to see a friend. Hassinger, the friend and Hassinger’s son were driving around Brown County testing his vehicle’s all-wheel drive when they became stuck in a field. Hassinger tried to get help from nearby houses, but after being unsuccessful, he found the ATV on someone’s private property. He said he did not know the owner and they did not give him permission to take it, but he took it to try to get his vehicle unstuck.

He was not able to get the vehicle unstuck, but received assistance from someone else. After that, his friend drove his vehicle back to his house and Hassinger was going to drive the ATV back to the friend’s house on Jackson Branch Ridge Road and return it to the property where it came from. That is when he passed Tenbarge. He said he was not sure why he ran from police, according to the affidavit.