Two men arrested after high-speed chase

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

BERNE, Indiana — A high-speed chase from the Dayton area to Adams County, Indiana, landed two man in jail on Tuesday.

The pursuit itself lasted more than two hours and went through the Village of Willshire before ending near Berne. After that, it took three more hours for two men in the rig to surrender to law enforcement officers.

According to Indiana State Police, the pursuit began in Riverside, in Montgomery County, at 12:05 a.m. and a report indicates shots were fired at officers during the chase. At 2:15, the driver, later identified as Nicholas R. Mingus, 29, of Ghent, Kentucky, led pursuing officers out of Willshire into Adams County, where deputies there joined in the pursuit.

Multiple tire deflation devices had already been successfully deployed in Ohio, so the semi-tractor was operating on multiple flat tires as it crossed from Van Wert County into Indiana.

The pursuit continued in eastern Adams County until the semi-tractor went off the road and became stuck in a ditch near the intersection of Salem Road and County Road 400 South, approximately four miles northeast of Berne.

Mingus and a passenger, later identified as Michael James McGee, 26, of Dayton, barricaded themselves inside the semi-tractor cab. From there, Adams County deputies, assisted by several Riverside Police and Ohio State Highway Patrol officers set up a safety perimeter and requested assistance from the Indiana State Police North SWAT team.

McGee got out of the truck and surrendered without further incident.

At approximately 5:10 a.m., more than five hours after the chase began, SWAT team members learned Mingus was still hiding in the cab. Gunshots were fired from inside the semi-tractor and struck the SWAT armored vehicle windshield. SWAT deployed tear gas into the semi-tractor, at which point Mingus exited and surrendered.

While getting out of the truck, a fire ignited inside the cab, eventually engulfing the rig in flames.

Mingus and McGee were transported from the scene to the Adams County Jail and were booked on charges of attempted murder, a level 1 felony; auto theft, a level 5 felony, and resisting law enforcement, a level 6 felony.
More charges are possible, including Ohio and federal charges, because the truck crossed state lines.