Body camera footage shows Mooresville officer hit by car during police chase

MOORESVILLE, Ind, — Dramatic body camera footage shows the moment a Mooresville police officer was clipped by a fleeing suspect during a car chase over the weekend.

The suspect was being chased by sheriff’s deputies from Morgan County as they drove north on State Road 67 around 6:47 p.m. Saturday.

At the intersection of Sunset Lane, the pursuit almost turned tragic, with a Mooresville police officer just narrowly avoiding being run over.

Video shows Officer Chase Pitcock preparing to pull stop sticks to catch a speeding black Dodge Challenger. The Challenger made a sudden turn onto Sunset Lane to avoid the tire deflation device.

Pitcock then dove for safety and was clipped by the fleeing car, which then sped away.

“It’s very chilling to see that. Everybody I’ve showed is like, that could have been really bad,” said Mooresville Police Chief Kerry Buckner.

Buckner said his officer suffered a broken thumb and leg injuries, but is extremely lucky he wasn’t more seriously hurt during the chase. The pursuit was also captured on dash cameras, which reached speeds of up to 130 miles per hour.

“Officer Pitcock was doing everything right, sometimes just bad things happen. Luckily he was fast enough to get out of the way,” said Buckner.

The pursuit along State Road 67 started when the suspect was involved in an illegal street takeover and pursuit in Monroe County before being spotted and chased again in Morgan County.

Police pursuits, of course, are inherently risky.

In June 2023, Indiana State Trooper Aaron Smith was killed while deploying stop sticks during a chase near I-70 and Ronald Reagan Parkway.

“Pursuits by nature are very dangerous,” said Buckner. “The longer you let them go, the more chance you have of something bad happening.”

In this case, the black Challenger had fake paper plates and the pursuit was terminated for safety reasons near Camby. Still, Mooresville police hope the driver can be tracked down and arrested.

After the second chase ended, Morgan County Sheriff’s deputies gave the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office a description of the vehicle.

“Obviously we need help from the public anytime something like this happens,” said Buckner.  “Hopefully we can identify them so they can be held accountable for their actions.”

Because no arrests have been made, anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact other the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office or the Mooresville Police Department at (765) 342-5544 or (317) 831-3434, respectively.