Bloomington man arrested 3 years after police chase that ended in a head-on collision

Bloomington Police officers arrested 30-year-old O’Shawn McCullough on June 19, nearly three years after a multi-county police chase ended in a head-on collision on Ind. 39 in Martinsville.

Both McCullough and the woman whose vehicle he struck, Ruth Tuttle, were airlifted to the hospital. Police said McCullough took off on foot from the hospital the following day, and has been eluding authorities since.

McCullough faces four felonies and three misdemeanor charges: two counts of resisting law enforcement, three counts of leaving the scene of an accident, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and carrying a handgun without a license.

The chase began the afternoon of Aug. 5, 2021, in Bloomington. McCullough’s black Cadillac Escalade crossed the double-yellow line while turning, according to a probable cause affidavit. A Bloomington officer pulled him over and identified him before he sped off. Police officers followed the vehicle until the Sample Road exit on Interstate 69, turning the pursuit over to Morgan County officers. 

Morgan County Sheriff’s Office deputies reached speeds over 100 miles per hour in an effort to catch up to McCullough as he traveled northbound on I-69. After taking the Liberty Church exit, McCullough began driving on the right shoulder to speed past other vehicles. At one point, he drove into a ditch but managed to return to the road, crossing into the southbound lane to continue north, the affidavit said.

While he drove against traffic, he sideswiped two vehicles and ran another off the road. As he attempted to avoid stop sticks deployed by a Martinsville Police Department vehicle on Ind. 39, he lost control of the vehicle and collided with Tuttle's brown Buick Enclave. 

According to the probable cause affidavit, Tuttle was airlifted to IU Health Bloomington with serious injuries, including a broken femur and fractures in the sternum, lower spine and ribs. A minor was also a passenger in the vehicle at the time. 

Believing McCullough may have had internal injuries, medical personnel on the scene removed his handcuffs for treatment and airlifted him to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. 

After being in a medically induced coma, police said McCullough ran out of the hospital the next morning.

Court records show McCullough was charged with three counts of dealing in cocaine or narcotic drugs in 2014 but entered a plea agreement to dismiss two of the counts and serve 994 days in home detention through Monroe County’s Community Alternative Supervision Program. He violated terms of the agreement a few months later and was sentenced to 906 days in state prison.

In 2023, Tuttle sued the MCSO, the Morgan County Commissioners and the City of Martinsville, alleging they failed to properly conduct the police chase that resulted in the collision. The case was dismissed due to her failure to respond to written discovery. Another lawsuit claimed Tuttle and the minor passenger both suffered permanent damages.

Though the chase occurred in both Monroe and Morgan counties, McCullough's trial will take place in Monroe County, where a July 10 pretrial hearing is scheduled.

Reach Marissa Meador at mmeador@gannett.com.