A man who stole a street sweeper led officers on a chase through Richmond, Indiana Sunday morning.

The Richmond Police Department says their third-shift officers went to respond to a call about a person driving recklessly in a 'piece of heavy machinery' around 1:30am Sunday morning.

Officers say 54-year-old Sammy H. Allen was reported to be swerving at people like he was trying to hit them and driving them into people's lawns. It was reported that Allen struck other vehicles, but officers were unable to find evidence to support the claim.

When officers located Allen and the street sweeper they found it to be stolen from a construction company doing work on a nearby highway.

Police initiated a pursuit of the vehicle, which they say reached speeds of nearly 10 to 15mph for just over an hour as he drove through the city.

Allen struck a garage in the 500 block of South 8th Street several times until it collapsed partially. Officers say he nearly flipped the sweeper while hitting the garage.

Officers attempted to deploy spike strips, but they didn't get any results from them because Allen was driving so slow he was able to drive around them.

At one site where an officer attempted to set up spike strips, Allen swerved at the officer, causing him to run to cover.

The low-speed chase finally ended when Allen drove the street sweeper into the James River. Obviously, the street sweeper died.

Allen made an attempt to flee on foot, but was quickly apprehended by officer with assistance from a Wayne County Sheriff’s Department K-9.

He was transported to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained to his arm by the dog, as well as some facial injuries he sustained in the struggle he had with the officers.

Allen will be facing multiple charges including vehicle theft, resisting law enforcement, leaving the scene of an accident, and reckless driving.

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