Nashville musician & Lyft ride-share driver Blake Streicher was arrested on Sunday night for felony fleeing / evading arrest, while dropping off passengers near Bridgestone Arena on Demonbreun just past 5th Ave, downtown. In order to avoids accidents and protect pedestrians, there are legal drop-off zone where people can safely get in/out of vehicles, and this driver was not only not following those rules, but breaking the law by fleeing from officers at a high rate of speed in his vehicle when they attempted to stop him.
Blake Streicher was driving a black four door VW GTI west on Demonbreun just past 5th Ave, when a MNPD officer observed him slowly drive past a ‘no stopping/standing any time’ sign. According to a police report, Streicher then changed from his lane of travel into the posted and marked bicycle lane and stopped and began to let his passengers exit his vehicle.
MNPD Officers were signaling to driver Blake Streicher to not drop off at this location and to keep moving, using both hand signals and a whistle. Streicher continued to drop off the passengers, and once they were all out of his vehicle, he pulled back into the land of travel where the MNPD officer was standing. He was directed to the center turn lane to so he could be stopped, and he went slightly into the turn lane, until the officer approached him, at which time he veered back out of the center turn lane and back into traffic, accelerating at a high rate of speed.
Officers once again starting blowing their traffic whistles and giving him commands to stop his vehicle, which he ignored, even pulling into the bicycle lane again to avoid being stopped. Streicher continued to accelerate at a high rate of speed toward 6th Ave, where another officer was standing. That officer was warned over the radio to get out of the roadway to avoid being hit, as the car was coming toward him at a high rate of speed. Streicher then turned right on 7th Ave, and left on McGavock, before finally being located on 8th Ave after exiting from McGavock.
Blake Streicher was charged with felony evading arrest. He was released on the pre-trial release program, in lieu of bond, and will appear in court on 05/25/18. Streicher moved to Nashville from Avon, Indiana in October of 2017, where he only has one previous traffic incident for speeding. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Technology from Indiana University-Perdue University of Indianapolis (IUPUI), and describes himself as an artist, producer, and audio engineer.
We reached out to both Streicher & Lyft for comment on this story, but had not received a response as of publication.
