A Vincennes man is being held in Wabash County following a vehicle pursuit that ended with authorities using a thermal-imaging drone to locate him in a bean field.
Austin Lawrence, 26, of Vincennes, was arrested on numerous charges, including DUI, aggravated fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, two counts of criminal damage to property, driving on a revoked license, resisting a police officer and leaving the scene.
Wabash County Sheriff Derek Morgan said the incident began Tuesday, August 11th when a deputy saw a vehicle leave Illinois Route 1 and nearly strike a tree. When the deputy attempted a traffic stop, the driver allegedly sped away.
The pursuit continued onto county roads and through a cornfield before an assisting Mount Carmel Police officer spotted the vehicle. Authorities said the driver later entered a bean field and continued to railroad tracks, where the vehicle stopped and the driver allegedly fled on foot.
The Wabash County Sheriff’s Office deployed a drone equipped with thermal imaging and located the driver hiding in a bean field south of the crash site.
Lawrence appeared in Wabash County Circuit Court Thursday for a detention hearing and was ordered held while the case is pending.