An Edinburgh man will serve four years in prison for leading police on a chase through Bartholomew and Johnson counties — striking a police car in the process.

Anthony “Tony” Allen, 56, was sentenced last Thursday to four years in the Indiana Department of Correction on charges of resisting law enforcement, criminal recklessness and auto theft, all Level 6 felonies, along with resisting law enforcement as a Class A misdemeanor. 1.5 years of Allen’s sentence was suspended, meaning he will be on probation, according to a Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office news release.

Allen was convicted of the charges by a jury last month after they deliberated for a little more than an hour, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors say Allen stole a pickup truck out of an Edinburgh resident’s driveway. When Edinburgh Police Deputy Chief Hector Mercado attempted to pull over the truck near the Bartholomew County-Johnson County line in the early morning hours of Sept. 29, Allen fled north on U.S. 31 toward Franklin, according to Edinburgh Police.

Allen fled police at speeds of up to 80 mph while swerving off the roadway multiple times. Allen twice swerved into farm fields at high speeds, damaging crops and the stolen truck he was driving. Numerous cars and trucks on the roads that Allen was traveling had to dodge Allen’s vehicle as he was trying to escape, according to prosecutors.

Allen also rammed a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office vehicle head-on during the police pursuit, ripping the bumper off the vehicle and doing over $7,000 in damage to the vehicle, a news release said. The deputy was not injured, Edinburgh Police said at the time.

The stolen truck Allen was driving stopped running when he drove into a second farm field but he got out and fled on foot. Police dogs and drones tracked Allen, who was eventually apprehended by Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Dylan Prather and his K-9 partner, Frizko, prosecutors said.

Johnson Superior Court 3 Judge Douglas Cummins declared Allen’s criminal conduct to be “offensive” and “horrendous.” Cummins noted that Allen put police officers and members of the public in danger as he fled from police for 16 miles in a stolen truck, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release.

Deputy Prosecutor Stephanie Caraway, who prosecuted the case, urged the judge to impose the maximum term of incarceration allowable under the law, 6.5 years, citing danger to the public, danger to dozens of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies who were involved in the pursuit, damage to property and Allen’s criminal record as reasons for the maximum sentence. Caraway said Allen “had multiple opportunities to stop and give himself up, and he didn’t,” according to the news release

Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner was pleased Allen was sentenced to prison, he said in the news release.

“This dangerous criminal belongs where he can’t hurt people or steal from them,” Hamner said. “I hope his four years in prison teach Mr. Allen that when the police tell you to stop, you stop. Period. You don’t keep fleeing, endangering everyone else on the highway. And if you don’t stop, you’re going to spend a lot of time in a metal cage where you can’t hurt anyone. Moreover, I hope Allen learns that if you want something, you work for it. That’s what the rest of us do. Stealing is for losers.”

When Allen was convicted in February, Hamner highlighted his calls for increased penalties for criminals who flee law enforcement. He repeated these calls in the news release on Allen’s sentencing.

“Sheriff Duane Burgess and I stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the urgent need for harsher penalties for criminals who flee from police in a car, endangering the lives of every person who has the misfortune to be in their destructive path, whether private citizen or police officer,” Hamner said. “This dangerous and destructive criminal behavior would be punishable by up to six years rather than only two and one-half, if our legislature passes the bill introduced by Indiana State Senator Aaron Freeman in response to a column I wrote.”

The bill Hamner is referring to Senate Bill 240, authored by Freeman, R-Indinapolis, and Sen. Cyndi Carrasco, R-Indianapolis. It would have made resisting law enforcement with a vehicle a Level 5 felony — increasing the maximum penalty from 2.5 years to six years, while also making it illegal to partake in “spinning” — the repeated or continuous operation of a motor vehicle with the intent of causing the vehicle to perform a rotational skid.

While it passed out of the Senate on Feb. 6 in a 45-3 vote, it bill was never voted on when it was before the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee — killing the bill for this year.

Allen plans to appeal his convictions. He asked the court to appoint a free lawyer to represent him at taxpayer expense, according to the news release.