‘I just wanted a deer;’ Hunter locates suspect in pursuit that injured Clark County deputy

CLARK COUNTY — The suspect involved in a traffic stop and pursuit that resulted in an injured deputy has been taken into custody, the Clark County Sheriff Office confirmed.

Around 10:30 p.m. Monday, a Clark County Sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop on a car in the parking lot of the Relax Inn on West Main Street in Springfield, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

After learning the suspect had a warrant for his arrest the deputy attempted to pull him out of the vehicle. During the conflict, the suspect gained control of his car and fled the traffic stop, hitting the deputy. The deputy was taken to Springfield Regional Hospital for minor injuries to his arm.

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After hitting the deputy, the suspect, later identified as Markus Zachman, lead deputies on a chase that reached speeds over 100 mph, according to an incident report. The chase ended in a crash in the 4000 block of Storm Creek Road. Zachman took off from the crash scene into a nearby woods.

Crews found the suspect had a female passenger in the car with him, and she also had a warrant for her arrest. She was put into custody and then transported to Springfield Regional Hospital for minor injuries. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office says the passenger will be taken to the Clark County Jail for processing.

Crews called off their search for Zachman early Tuesday morning.

Later Tuesday morning, former Clark County commissioner Rick Lohnes was out hunting on his property off Willow Dale Road. He noticed movement while he was up in a deer stand.

“The bushes were moving so I thought I had a big buck down there and so I stared at it. Pretty soon, I realized it was a guy walking,” Lohnes said.

He noticed the man looked like he had been in the woods a while. Lohnes gave him some water and pointed him the direction of the main road.

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“I thought, ‘Something’s not right here’ so I called 911.

When crews arrived, Lohnes learned that it was the man deputies had been searching for for nearly 12 hours.

“I just wanted a deer,” Lohnes joked.

Zachman is currently facing fleeing/eluding police officer, assault and obstructing official business charges, according to charges filed in Clark County Municipal Court.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office told News Center 7 that the deputy injured during the incident has been released from the hospital.

We’ll update this story as we learn more.

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