A person of interest has been arrested after attempting to run over an Indiana State Trooper during a traffic stop this morning in Lawrence County.
46-year-old Richard Cobb of Mitchell is in police custody.
Police are looking for 40-year-old Jason Dale Blake, of 205 South 5th Street in Mitchell.
Blake is 6’0 tall, 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Blake is already wanted on warrant on a different case in Lawrence County.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Jason Dale Blake is encouraged to contact the Indiana State Police at the Bloomington District at (812) 332-4411. All tips will remain anonymous.
The lockdown at Mitchell Community Schools has been lifted and students were dismissed at the regular times.
Steve Phillips, superintendent of MCS, through a School Reach message, said the schedules at all buildings are returning to normal. He said ran their regular routes.
Just before 9:30 a.m., an Indiana State Police Trooper conducted a traffic stop on a green Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck for a traffic violation for a seat belt violation just North of Spring Mill State Park.
After initially refusing to stop, the driver led the trooper to the Lehigh Cement Plant near Mitchell. Once the pickup stopped, the driver waited for the trooper to walk up, when without warning, the driver attempted to run over the trooper.
The trooper was not hit and proceeded to give chase to the pickup. The pickup truck was located shortly thereafter, unoccupied near the Lehigh Plant, off of Meridian Road just north of Ind. 60.
Police are combing the Mill Creek Road area and set up a perimeter that includes Mill Creek, Lawrenceport and Sams roads and part of Lehigh Cement Company property.
Several K-9 teams were brought in to search the area, and an ISP helicopter was summoned.
Officers also told radio dispatchers to request Mitchell Community Schools and Spring Mill State Park both go into a lockdown as a precautionary measure until the suspects were apprehended.
West Washington High School Principal Keith Nance said he consulted with Washington County Sheriff Claude Combs earlier. Combs said the situation should not affect them at the school. Despite rumors on social media, the school was never placed on a lockdown.
During a School Reach message issued by MCS Superintendent Steve Phillips at 10:08 a.m., he said no one is being allowed to enter or exit any of the MCS school buildings. He said the school system was advised by the Mitchell Police Department that there are possibly two men in the area who should be “considered armed and dangerous.” Phillips said school officials will continue to monitor the situation.
Currently, the Indiana State Police along with local law enforcement are looking for two unidentified white males that had occupied the S-10. The only description available is two white males, unkempt and unshaven.
