A Bloomington man was arrested on a felony gun charge after a Sunday morning incident that ended in a vehicle crash near the McDonald’s on North Walnut and the bypass.
The incident began a little after 1 a.m. Sunday morning outside Steve’s Place on West Third Street when a Kia Sportage driven by a 27-year-old man allegedly backed into a sign post. The driver, Gage Vaught, revved the engine and then discharged a firearm into the air before exiting east-bound on Third Street.
Bloomington Police Department officers responded and saw the vehicle going back west-bound on Third Street in front of Steve’s Place.
An officer pursued the vehicle, now driven by Haley McDonough of Spencer. The officer followed the car onto I-69. During the pursuit, the officer said he saw Vaught fire his gun out the passenger window six or seven times toward the road.
The Kia then took the off-ramp onto Indiana 46 East, narrowly missing another car on the ramp. When the Kia slowed to turn left onto North Walnut Street, the officer performed a PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver, causing the Kia to crash near the McDonald’s.
Officers located a black, 9-millimeter handgun on the bypass that appeared to have been thrown from the car. They also located seven spent cartridges along I-69.
Vaught was charged with criminal recklessness, a class 6 felony, and a Class A misdemeanor for having no handgun license. McDonough, 19, was charged with resisting law enforcement, a Class 6 felony.
