A 28-year-old Muncie man is facing a stack of felony charges after allegedly firing a gun inside an IHOP during a confrontation with a cook, then leading police on a chase that topped 110 mph before the SUV he was driving slammed into a house. Austen Wable was taken into custody after the crash and was being held without bond pending a bond hearing.
According to fox59.com, which reviewed police documents, Wable confronted the cook over an allegation that the man had sex with Wable's wife. A witness told investigators that Wable began pushing the cook, pointed a gun at him, and the weapon went off during the struggle. Police said the confrontation, which WKRC reported stemmed from a 911 call describing the alleged affair, escalated quickly inside the restaurant.
The same witness said Wable then chased the cook into the parking lot while armed with a knife. Officers who responded to the IHOP located a firearm and a shell casing on the floor, the documents state. By the time police arrived, Wable had already fled the scene in an SUV.
Police Track Down the SUV and a High-Speed Chase Follows
Investigators used the FLOCK camera network to trace the SUV, which belonged to Wable's wife, to Biltmore Avenue. Once officers located the vehicle, Wable allegedly took off, driving at a high rate of speed and reaching more than 110 mph as the pursuit unfolded, per the documents reviewed by fox59.com.
The chase ended when the SUV crashed into a home on South County Road 400 East. Officers reported that Wable failed to follow their commands after exiting the vehicle, prompting them to deploy a stun gun before placing him under arrest.
Felony Charges Stack Up Against Wable
Wable was preliminarily charged with criminal recklessness for shooting a firearm into an inhabited building, intimidation with a deadly weapon, unlawful carrying of a handgun, pointing a firearm, resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated and endangering a person — all felonies — along with multiple misdemeanor counts of resisting law enforcement, according to the police documents cited by fox59.com. The documents also note that Wable was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a 2021 conviction for carrying a handgun without a license.
Wable was held without bond pending a bond hearing, the outlet reported. The incident took place in Muncie, Indiana, and the outcome of that hearing had not been reported at the time of publication.
