Illinois Man Dead After Police Chase on I-74

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is dealing with a situation where a driver fled from police and then shot himself.

Anthony J. Ballard, a 22-year-old black man from Decatur, Ill. Was pronounced dead at the scene.

It began early Thursday afternoon when a sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop a Ford Explorer with four adults inside for failure to signal. This was on Interstate 74 near the 32 mile marker. The Sheriff’s Office reports that the vehicle didn’t stop and continued traveling west. Soon the Explorer sped up and wound up reaching 100 mph. Around the 22 mile marker, the Explorer slowed dramatically and went off the road into the embankment. It hit a guardrail and stopped.

Two women and a man got out. The man told the deputy that Ballard shot himself and was dead.

Sheriff’s deputies and a Crawfordsville Police Officer went down the embankment and confirmed the driver was deceased. Medical personnel from Fountain County began treating both females. One complained of a heart condition and was taken to Franciscan Health in Crawfordsville. The other woman and the man were interviewed and later released at the scene.

Police did not identify the three other than to say the man is 68 and the women are 53 and 71. All are from Illinois. The four were going back to Decatur from Kentucky.

Ballard reportedly had more than 100 individually packaged pills and a Glock 9-mm pistol.

The Sheriff’s Office said it does not know why Ballard shot himself and is working with the Fountain County Sheriff’s Office, the Fountain County Coroner’s Office, Crawfordsville Police and the Indiana State Police. They ask that if anyone has any information on the incident to contact Det. Aaron French at (765) 362-3740.