Pursuit Ends With Man Fleeing Into River And Rescued By Griffith PD
On Tuesday, February 9th, 2021, at approx 2:20 AM, a Griffith Police Officer observed a dark colored Chevy Tahoe disregard the red traffic lights at Ridge Rd and Cline Ave and then at 35th and Cline Ave in Griffith, according to Commander Keith Martin of The Griffith Police. The officer attempted to execute a traffic stop but the offending vehicle continued northbound so the officer then activated his siren to ensure that the offender knew he was being stopped. As both vehicles began to slow near I-80/94, they hit a patch of snow/ice causing the officer’s vehicle to strike the cement barrier and the offending vehicle to slide sideways to a stop on the eastbound ramp to I-80/94.
The officer exited his vehicle and ran to the offending vehicle and ordered the male driver to exit the vehicle but the driver ignored the officer’s orders and fled in the vehicle eastbound in reverse. The officer radioed the information to other officers and another Griffith officer along with a Highland Police Officer proceeded onto I-80/94 and located the suspect vehicle stopped in a snow bank, facing oncoming traffic with its driver door open.
Officers followed shoeprints in the heavy snow down a steep embankment into a heavily wooded area which leads to a chain link fence. Upon reaching the Little Calumet River bank, they heard what they described as a faint sound of someone yelling. The outdoor temperature was about 10 degrees and river was mostly frozen with small patches of open water.
Officers observed a subject submerged in the water from the neck down. Officers yelled instructions for the subject in order for them to assist him from the water but the subject was not doing so initially. However, he eventually was able to pull himself up through the hole in the ice and laid flat on his chest on the ice. Lance Cpl Hinkle of the Highland Police Department grabbed a long branch and held it towards the subject and advised him to grab the branch. However, the subject did not appear to be making any effort to grab the branch, and eventually slid back through the whole and into the water.
Cpl Gary of the Griffith Police Department then moved up onto the ice and laid down flat and proceeded to crawl toward the male. Cpl Gary, with Lance Cpl Hinkle holding onto him by his belt, held out his hand ordering the suspect to grab his hand. The subject did not appear to make any effort to grab Cpl Gary’s hand but Cpl Gary was able to now grab the subject by his jacket. Cpl Gary pulled the subject toward them and both officers were able to pull the subject out of the water and onto the ice.
The suspect, now described to be incoherent and yelling for officers to kill him, started pulling himself, and officers in turn, back towards the hole in the ice. Officers ordered him to stop as the ice was now beginning to crack under their weight. The suspect refused to heed their warnings and officers had to physically take action to get the suspect from resisting their efforts. Cpl Gary and Lance Cpl Hinkle were subsequently able to pull the subject off the ice and onto the river bank.
The suspect continued to be combative and taunted officers, and again plead with officers to kill him. Cpl Gary and Lance Cpl Hinkle, with the assistance of additional Griffith and Lake County Sheriff’s Officers who spoke with the man in Spanish, were able to get the suspect from the wooded river area and up to the highway where the subject was assessed by emergency personnel and transported to Munster Community Hospital.
The suspect was initially identified as a 40 year old Lake Station man who also possessed a Mexico Consular Identification Card. The suspects name will be released upon the filing of criminal charges for resisting police, various traffic offenses, as well as possible possession of narcotics, pending test results of a white powdery substance located in the vehicle,
No injuries were reported at the time of the incident.
The Griffith Police Department is extremely proud of the lifesaving efforts of Cpl Gary and Lance Cpl Hinkle and very thankful for the assistance of all Griffith Police, Highland Police, and Lake County Sheriff’s Department officers who took part in this incident as well.
