RICHMOND, Ind. Police chased a Richmond man on a street sweeper for more than an hour Nov. 7.

Now, he has an arrest warrant related to that incident against him, and law enforcement officials are looking to again arrest him.

Sammy H. Allen, 54, was highlighted in a weekly Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Facebook feature asking for the public’s assistance finding wanted people. Allen faces charges of auto theft and resisting law enforcement, both as Level 6 felonies, and of misdemeanor criminal mischief.

The charges were formally filed seven weeks after the incident, and a warrant was issued for Allen’s arrest. He will have a $10,000 bond when arrested. The case has been assigned to Circuit Court.

Suspect said he was trying to stay warm

Allen, who was hospitalized following the incident, told investigators that he got inside a Waldon Sweepmaster before 1:30 a.m. Nov. 7 to get warm, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The temperature that morning dropped to 27 degrees at 6 a.m., according to Indiana American Water weather records.

Inside the sweeper, Allen found the keys, so he turned the machine on to run the heat. After getting warm, he told officers he began driving the sweeper to sweep the streets, the affidavit said.

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Richmond Police Department responded to the 900 block of Butler Street for a reported piece of machinery hitting cars, according to the affidavit. When the officer located the sweeper, Allen drove toward the police car trying to hit it.

The officer backed away from the sweeper, then got behind it, the affidavit said. That began an hour-long pursuit. Allen said he did not stop because he thought officers were shooting at him.

During the pursuit, which included traveling the wrong way on multiple one-way streets, Allen purposely struck a garage behind a South Eighth Street residence three times until it collapsed, according to the affidavit. The mischief charge refers to the garage’s destruction.

Allen finally drove through Wayne County Veterans Memorial Park and crashed into the Whitewater River, where he fled the sweeper and was apprehended by a sheriff’s office K-9. He then resisted officers trying to handcuff him, the affidavit said.

After being taken to Reid Health for evaluation from the crash and for a K-9 bite, Allen was transferred to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for surgery, according to the affidavit.

Allen has a lengthy criminal record that includes two felony convictions for being a habitual traffic violator and other felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, burglary and driving while intoxicated. He also has four previous misdemeanor convictions for public intoxication, two for possession of marijuana and others for disorderly conduct, conversion, battery, driving while intoxicated and resisting law enforcement.

Others with warrants highlighted by the sheriff’s office were:

Brad H. Boyce, who is wanted for driving under the influence and auto theft;

Kayla N. Phillips, who is wanted for residential entry and domestic battery in the presence of a child; and

Dewey L. Balthis, who is wanted for insurance fraud and forgery.