HENRY COUNTY, Ind. -- For the Schmiesing family, the arrival of warmer weather means it’s time to get outdoors.
“We all have bikes, so we go on bike rides. We walk the trails. We love playing outside. So, um, I was very active,” said 38-year-old Shanta Schmiesing, wife and mother of four children.
It’s different now.
On a recent visit to their Muncie home, FOX59/CBS4 witnessed the Schmiesing children and husband, Tyler, gathered in the family room. The shades were drawn. The only sound was a rotating fan.
In the center of the room is a hospital bed. This is where Shanta has spent almost all of her time since returning from the hospital.
LEAVING WORK
Just after 6 a.m. on April 18, Shanta was on way her home. She had just completed her shift at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital where she works as a sterile processing tech, cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments.
She took her regular route driving north on Tillotson Avenue. In a few minutes, she was stopped by the traffic signal at the intersection of West McGalliard Road.
This is where Shanta’s memory lapses.
“I remember it turning green… and I remember waking up after that, too.”
She does not remember the high-speed crash that broadsided her Jeep as she reached the center of the intersection.
FRACTURES AND PAIN
When Shanta regained consciousness, she couldn’t feel anything. Then, the pain set in.
“The first thing I felt was my jaw. I felt tremendous pain, and I felt tremendous pain in my shoulders, and then my chest.”
In all, she has six fractures. There are two in Shanta’s hip. Stainless steel rods have been drilled into both sides of her pelvis to stabilize the injury. There’s also a lumbar fracture, a fractured jaw and fractures to both shoulders that were also dislocated.
Weeks after the accident, slight movements cause pain.
“I can barely stand. I can’t walk at all. I can’t use my arms. I can’t hug my kids.”
To care for his wife and their children, Tyler has stepped away from his job.
“It’s extremely heartbreaking. I’m trying to hold back tears all the time.”
'FLEEING LAWFUL ARREST'
The police report says at the time of the crash 28-year-old Zacrey Antrim was “fleeing lawful arrest” while operating a silver 2013 Dodge Dart.
Antrim had been chased by Henry County Sheriff Deputy Tanner Strelecky for 15 miles with the pursuit starting near the Henry/Delaware county line.
Approaching the intersection from the west, Strelecky went from the right lane to the left lane to avoid a vehicle stopped at a red light. The report says Antrim “disregarded the stoplight and crashed into” (Schmiesing’s) Jeep.
Both vehicles came to rest north of the four lanes of West McGalliard.
Declared dead at the scene was a passenger in Antrim’s car, 25-year-old Nicholus "Nick" Woolums.
'MY CAREFUL KID'
James Woolums talked with FOX59/CBS4 while sitting in his front yard. Behind him, his porch was jammed with appliances and furnishings removed from his son’s house.
More than a month had passed since Nick had died. James was still struggling with grief from the loss of his son who he referred to as “my careful kid.”
“I know he didn’t want to die, you know? He was all about life and living. I promise you that,” James aid.
Nick and Antrim had been friends for years. James does not know why his son was with Antrim in Henry County so early on the morning of the police chase, and the crash that ended it.
“Bad kid lives and the good kid gets killed. That’s how it goes,” lamented James.
Antrim has had numerous run-ins with law enforcement going back to 2013. The most serious concluded last September, when Antrim agreed to a deal that resulted in probation in exchange for guilty pleas to charges of neglect of a dependent and intimidation, both felonies.
Nick Woolums was scheduled to be tried in October on three felony charges including theft of a firearm and dealing a Schedule IV controlled substance. After his death, the charges were dismissed.
QUESTIONS AND BLAME
James Woolums still doesn’t understand why, with a cop in pursuit, Antrim didn’t just stop.
“Any one of us would have pulled over,” he said.
But Antrim didn’t, as he raced north on State Route 3 into Muncie at speeds estimated by Indiana State Police at “70-100 miles per hour.”
James also reserves some blame for Deputy Strelecky for continuing the high-speed pursuit through the city’s streets.
“If you and me did that we’d go to jail," he said. "I promise you. I’m not saying throw the book at him, but he should be punished for what he did.”
Shanta Schmiesing also questions the necessity of a city car chase.
“Why that was happening at such a high speed and are there any regards to people, other people on the road?”
PRAISE FOR THE DEPUTY
A departmental review of the pursuit was done just hours after the crash by leadership of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, including Sheriff John Sproles.
The review included listening to police radio recording of the chase and watching Deputy Strelecky’s body camera. There is no mention of whether Strelecky was interviewed as part of the review.
In an email, Sproles praised Strelecky for being “consistently calm and in control of his decision-making faculties.”
The review concluded no departmental policy was violated. No one was disciplined.
The sheriff places blame for the crash solely on Antrim.
“It is unthinkable to me that the suspect would do such a thing as to knowingly and intentionally flee law enforcement, and in doing so cause such a tragedy for all involved.”
In our earlier stories on the police chase, FOX59/CBS4 reported the pursuit was unsupervised based on information provided by Sheriff Sproles. The sheriff has subsequently said the chase was supervised. But our review of police radio transmissions found that at no point during the chase was there advice or questions about public safety during the entirety of the pursuit.
Sproles says the first-year deputy received departmental and field training last year including instruction on emergency driving. But at the time of the pursuit, Strelcky had not yet received state-mandated training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
The academy’s curriculum includes 40 hours on emergency vehicle operation. Strelecky began his stint at the academy eleven days after the crash.
THE AFTERMATH
The Schmiesing family is unsure what lies ahead. Shanta’s mobility is limited. Just getting out of bed and into a wheelchair is a painful exercise that takes 30-60 minutes.
She faces a lengthy recovery that likely includes lots of rehabilitation.
“I don’t know what my mobility will be like after this,” she said.
James Woolums is struggling emotionally. Of his children, Nick was the one who reliably stayed in touch, and now he’s gone.
“Everyday he called me," James said, breaking down in tears. "Every morning, he called me. Every day. Twenty-five years. Every day. He took that away from me.”