Cop car joy-rider: ‘I am not a horrible person’

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Updated: February 25, 2012 8:06AM

William Blankenship III sat handcuffed in the backseat of a northwest Indiana police car earlier this month when he frantically pondered what to do next.

He had been accused of drug possession — which he denies — and he feared he would not be able to see his wife of three years and his month-old baby if police took him into custody. So the 22-year-old recent resident of west suburban Brookfield jumped over the front seat of the white, fully marked Chevy Impala and, after second-guessing the decision, jumped in the back seat again. Then he hopped into the driver’s seat again and sped off on a two-day ordeal that grabbed headlines because he radioed police asking for a key to the handcuffs and a cigarette lighter.

The chase also reminded him of one his favorite movies, “Vanishing Point,” he said during an interview at the Porter County Jail in northwest Indiana.

The 1971 cult classic profiled a car delivery driver who recklessly navigates a 1970 Dodge Challenger from Colorado to San Francisco while being chased by cops until he crashes his car and gets arrested. “I used to watch that movie with my father,” Blankenship said.

During the interview, Blankenship wore a black-and-white-striped jail outfit while he articulately explained what happened. He even joked he was charging $3 a word for the interview. “Just kidding,” he said nervously.

Blankenship said he works as an independent contractor who transports medical supplies and other goods for a living. But never illegal drugs, he insisted.

“The media made me look horrible, and I am not a horrible person,” he said flatly. “I am a family man ... with a full-time job, a house and a car.”

On Jan. 10, Blankenship said he was driving southbound on Interstate 65 in Northern Indiana to the Knox area to do some mechanic work for a friend. But he missed his exit and made a wrong turn. From there, he made an unexpected stop. “I had to use the bathroom,” he said.

At a Family Express in Kouts, about 30 miles southeast of Gary, a police officer pulled up behind him with his lights on. A traffic stop for speeding, Blankenship figured.

The officer soon asked to search his car, a 2004 Ford Taurus, and Blankenship agreed, he said. The officer put handcuffs on Blankenship, and he asked him to wait near the police car. The officer said he found drugs and drug paraphernalia in Blankenship’s car.

“He told me that what he found could put me away for life,” he said. “But what he found I have never seen before in my life.”

Except, he admitted in the interview, a small scale that is used to weigh marijuana or other drugs.

“They found something, but I’m not being charged with drug possession,” he said.

The charges against him so far are auto theft, criminal mischief, fleeing law enforcement and escape. A police spokesman could not be reached for comment Sunday.

He was placed into the back seat of the police car. The officer said he went to do a more thorough search of Blankenship’s car. That’s when Blakenship drove off in the squad car.

“Under circumstances of great stress I have made, in the past, poor decisions. I will admit that,” said Blankenship, who said he has had mental health problems and bipolar tendencies in the past. “But I wanted to see my wife and child again.”

Contributing: AP