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Charges were filed Wednesday against a Warsaw man believed to be the driver of the motorcycle police were chasing when a police car struck a house west of Warsaw. The accident caused a fire that destroyed both the house and the car.
Ty Shepler, 32, of 625 Logan St., is preliminarily charged with resisting or fleeing law enforcement, a Class D felony. A warrant for his arrest has been filed after the information in the case was reviewed by the prosecutor's office.
Shepler reportedly led city, county and state police on a high-speed pursuit through Warsaw and into the county's jurisdiction on May 5.
Near the end of the pursuit, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department Reserve Deputy Robert Conley lost control of the squad car he was driving and struck a house belonging to Richard Goshert. The chase was then terminated and Shepler allegedly sped away from the scene.
Conley suffered scrapes and bruises in the accident and remains relieved of his duties as a reserve officer, both for medical reasons and until a review of the incident is completed by the KCSD, according to Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine.
An investigation after the incident led police to Shepler, and a motorcycle matching the description of the one police were chasing was reportedly located at Shepler's father's house.
Police interviewed Shepler on May 7 and, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Kosciusko Superior Court I, Shepler admitted to being the operator of that motorcycle when he fled from police on May 5. He also reportedly voluntarily showed police a black long-sleeve shirt with white lettering on the back of it matching the shirt described by the officer who initiated the pursuit.
A videotaped image of the motorcyclist taken from another police car's in-car camera shows the operator to have a likeness to Shepler.
