A Linton man on a stolen dirt bike sped away from two officers on the south side of Linton, flew through intersections on his way north, and ran a red light before crashing the bike at the Linton-Stockton School. He then took off running on foot, but they caught him.

Levi Cody Snowden, 22, Linton, was arrested by Officer John Agan of the Linton Police Department on Friday, December 27.

Around 12:12 a.m. on that Friday, Officer Agan was on patrol in the area of State Road 59 and Base Road in Linton, with LPD Sgt. Logan Hobbs. Agan said when he was going to turn east onto Base Road, he nearly turned into the path of what was later identified as a 2018 Suzuki dirt bike motorcycle. Agan reported the dirt bike was going at a high rate of speed, did not have working head lights or working taillights and the driver was wearing dark clothing.

The driver was later identified as Snowden.

Officer Agan turned around and hit the red and blue lights to initiate a traffic stop, but the dirt bike accelerated away. Officer Agan hit the siren and Snowden looked back then continued to flee northbound on South Main Street. Officer Agan said Snowden went through the intersections of South Main and Vincennes streets and South Main and State Road 54 at a high rate of speed without stopping even though a stoplight was red. Snowden continued northbound on North Main, disregarded the stop sign at North Main and H streets then drove through the south side parking lot at the Linton-Stockton School and drove over the sidewalk before he hit a curb, lost control and crashed the bike.

At that point, Snowden allegedly took off on foot with the officers taking up the chase. The officers caught up with him on the north east side of the school where Snowden was taken into custody.

Snowden was transported to Greene County General Hospital to be medically cleared before transport to jail.

A records check on the dirt bike revealed it had been reported as stolen on October 9. It was reported to be yellow but it had apparently been painted green.

Officer Agan then heard from LPD Officer Adam King who said Snowden had contacted him about a stolen dirt bike in November.

When Snowden was interviewed at the hospital by Sgt. Hobbs, Snowden said the dirt bike he was riding was the dirt bike he talked about to Officer King. He explained a man had told him he heard Snowden was trying to sell a stolen dirt bike, but he didn’t know the bike was stolen when he was trying to sell it. Snowden allegedly said he then received the bike from another individual in late December and though he did believe it was stolen, he didn’t ask any questions.

Snowden was booked into the Greene County Jail around 7:09 a.m. with bond set at $8,500 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Snowden is scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court on Thursday, January 9, when he will be formally charged with:

• Auto theft, a Level 6 felony,

• Resisting law enforcement using a vehicle, a Level 6 felony, and

• Reckless driving at unreasonable speed that endangers safety, a Class C misdemeanor.