GARY— James Scott celebrated New Year’s Eve by kicking in his sister’s front door, trying to run over a police dispatcher outside the Public Safety Facility then leading police on a pursuit “for several miles in and around the city,” court records state.
Scott, 43, of 2204 W. 19th Ave., was charged Wednesday with attempted aggravated battery, attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon, residential entry and resisting law enforcement, all felonies. He admitted to police he committed the crimes, but said he didn’t try to run over the dispatcher, court records state.
Scott told police, “he may have gunned the car a little bit as she ran away from him but he never tried to run her over,” the probable cause affidavit states.
Early in the afternoon, Scott’s sister called police after she said her brother kicked in the front door. She told Detective George Dickerson she hid in her bedroom until he drove away and told police Scott “has mental problems,” the probable cause affidavit states.
Minutes later, a Gary police dispatcher who had taken the sister’s call, was on her break outside the station when a man in a silver SUV drove up and tried to talk to her. She walked away and “he seemed to get angry and called her a name,” the affidavit states. “When she turned to walk back to the station, he gunned the engine of his vehicle and drove toward her.”
She told officers at the front desk what happened, and Sgt. Brian Colbert located the car stopped against a utility pole at 2nd Avenue and Taft Street, the affidavit states. Before Colbert could speak to the driver, the SUV sped away, leading several units on a chase that ended at 25th Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive.
Scott was arrested at the scene, but was not charged until this week. Cpl. Kwata Osborne arrested Scott Tuesday night. He is being held on $60,000 bail, court records show.