Handcuffed suspect leads chase in stolen police car

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - The Mishawaka Police Department was involved in a chase Friday afternoon after a handcuffed suspect stole a Mishawaka police car out of a Menards parking lot, according to the St. Joseph County Police Department.

The call came in just after 2 p.m. saying that a handcuffed shoplifting suspect, identified as 42-year-old Michael Lee Eppenbaugh of Warsaw, started fighting with an on-duty Mishawaka Police officer and an off-duty St. Joseph County Police officer who was at the Menards near Main Street in Mishawaka.

During the fight, the suspect gained control of the police vehicle and started a chase, according to police.

The suspect was taken into custody after crashing the vehicle on M-60, near Yankee Road, just outside of Niles. 

He was taken to the Cass County Jail and is wanted on multiple warrants in Kosciusko County. 

Michael Lee Eppenbaugh, 42, of Warsaw