Madison, IN—Late Friday morning, a trooper with the Indiana State Police reported that the truck belonging to the ISP was stolen from his residence on State Road 62 in rural Jefferson County. The trooper had been working on equipment in the vehicle used by a state police specialty team when the male suspect, later identified as Vincent L. Wiefling, approached the residence on foot.
Wiefling then entered the vehicle without being seen by the trooper. He then drove it away from the scene northbound on State Road 62. Two witnesses of the theft followed Wiefling in the truck until law enforcement could respond.
Wiefling crashed the vehicle in a ditch less than two miles from the theft. He then fled from the vehicle on foot. Numerous law enforcement agencies responded to the scene. Wiefling was soon located hiding in a nearby wooded area where he was taken into custody and transported to the Jefferson County Jail on allegations of Auto Theft, Resisting Law Enforcement, Criminal Trespass, Operating While Intoxicated, Unlawful Entry of a Motor Vehicle, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.
Investigators later learned that Wiefling was just released from the custody of the Jefferson County Jail earlier that morning.
