By Christina M. Wright, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — An Anderson tractor driver who refused to stop when police officers attempted to pull him over Thursday says was not wrong to be apprehensive about an unmarked minivan in Pendleton whose uniformed driver claimed to be with the Anderson Police Department.
“Here he is in a minivan; he could have been anybody,” said Michael Meador, adding that the officer also refused to show his badge. “I was waiting on an actual police car.”
According to a probable cause affidavit by Anderson Police Sgt. Shawn Richwine, he noticed Meador, 35, driving erratically northbound in the 7600 block of Pendleton Avenue. At an intersection where Emergency Management had stopped traffic in the aftermath of a nearby Indianapolis tanker explosion, Richwine approached the semi and asked Meador to stop at the next service station. But Meador kept driving for about 3 miles to Anderson High School, the affidavit said.
When officers finally got him to stop the 2005 Freightliner Tractor, he told them he’d been instructed that he was only required to respond to Department of Transportation authorities or Indiana State Police, according to the affidavit.
Meador was arrested for Class D felony resisting arrest with a vehicle and was released early Friday morning on a $5,000 bond.
Meador told to The Herald Bulletin Saturday that a state police trooper told him officers out of their jurisdiction would only be allowed to pull him over for suspected felony activity, not a traffic violation.
Meanwhile, APD spokesman Mitch Carroll said Richwine never tried to pull Meador over.
“He didn’t pull him over; he told him he could go over to the service station and they could deal with the situation,” Carroll said. “Pulling someone over is different than walking up to them.”
As far as jurisdiction, Carroll said Richwine was merely observing when he initially saw the tractor just out of APD jurisdiction. Beyond that initial observation, Meador was in violation of several traffic laws in APD jurisdiction, Carroll said. Meador insisted it was not APD territory.
Additionally, Carroll said, Richwine also asked Meador if he had used one of the two cell phones in the truck to call 911 to check his suspicions that Richwine was not an officer. Meador said he had not.
“That’s just really one thing that doesn’t go through your mind,” Meador said. “I figured, if he was, he would call in and a police car would show up. And when it did, I pulled right over.”
Meador also alleged Richwine would not show him a badge, but Carroll said Richwine was in full uniform because he was headed to work. He said that would include his badge displayed.
Unsure of exactly what action he would take, Meador said he would be talking to an attorney about the incident that cost him money, time and embarrassment.
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
