Car chase leads to armed officers putting two suspects into custody

NOW: Car chase leads to armed officers putting two suspects into custody
NEXT:

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- The Mishawaka Police Department (MPD) put two male suspects into custody Tuesday morning near 316 West Battell St.

Mishawaka police explained in a statement that at 10:33 a.m., an officer attempted to pull a car over around Lincoln Way West and Logan St.

“The driver however decided not to cooperate and made the conscious choice to flee from the police,” said Steve Headley, a Mishawaka Police Department Sergeant.

That ensued the police to chase the suspect in the car around The Oaks neighborhood and North Main St. At 10:38 a.m., a Mishawaka police officer got into a crash with two vehicles and a fence while following the driver with his emergency lights and sirens on.

“The pursuit kind of wound around the neighborhood, one of the other officers that was involved in the chase, as he was crossing Liberty Drive from an alley, was involved in a ‘property damage only’ crash, fortunately meaning there was nobody hurt,” explained Headley.

Headley said the chase came to a close minutes after the crash, but only after the suspect crashed his car into a garage in an alley on the 300 block of West Battell Street.

“He lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a garage and then he got out and ran on foot into a nearby apartment which was witnessed by people in neighborhood, and they pointed out to us where they had seen him,” said Headley.

There was no forced entry into the apartment, so Headley said the department assumes the suspect is known at the residence, lives there, or stays there occasionally.

Ultimately, MPD obtained a search warrant, then several armed officers went into the apartment where they located and put the suspect into custody.

“We found the individual that had been involved with the pursuit, and we also found a quantity of narcotics and some weapons in there,” explained Headley.

However, Headley explained that suspect wasn’t the only one that was taken into custody.

“The initial person that we encountered that answered the door when we knocked on it came out and during the conversation with him, he was found to have an unrelated criminal arrest warrant, so he was also taken into custody,” said Headley.

Headley went on to explain that MPD prepares and trains themselves for the worst-case situations, but besides the crash, he said this incident had a positive outcome.

“If we go home at the end of the day, like today, it’s a good day. We got some bad guys off the street, we got some guns off the street, we got some drugs off the street. It’s a good day overall,” said Headley.

The case remains under investigation, but both male suspects were taken to the St. Joseph County Jail. Headley said formal charges will be filed within the coming days.

Share this article: