Seymour Man Faces Felony Charges Following Multi-Agency I-65 Police Pursuit
Jonathan Efrain Sanchez, 36, of Seymour, is facing multiple felony charges in Lake County following a police pursuit on December 27, 2025, that involved a multi-agency chase, multiple police vehicles being struck on Interstate 65.
According to the probable cause affidavit, at approximately 11:48 a.m., a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy was in the area of 109th Avenue and I-65 with Crown Point police officers while searching for a suspect vehicle that had been involved in a pursuit with the New Chicago Police Department. The New Chicago pursuit had been terminated after the suspect vehicle struck a New Chicago police vehicle near I-65 southbound and U.S. 30.
While in the area, officers observed the suspect vehicle, identified as a 2003 Ford F-150 with a white cab and green truck bed, traveling southbound and crossing over the 109th Avenue exit. The deputy immediately began following the truck and observed the driver acting erratically.
Court records state the driver was waving his arms inside the vehicle, opening the driver’s side window, waving his hands outside the window, and pointing toward the passenger side of the truck. Officers observed a female seated in the passenger seat.
Emergency lights and sirens were activated in an attempt to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle failed to stop. Instead, the driver continued traveling southbound on I-65 while swerving in the roadway and continuing to wave his hands in and out of the vehicle.
The pursuit continued past the U.S. 231 exit, where two Crown Point police officers attempted to deploy stop sticks. The attempt was unsuccessful, as the driver swerved around them.
As additional units joined the pursuit, a fully marked Lake County Sheriff’s Department vehicle was able to position itself in front of the fleeing truck while other units remained behind. A Crown Point police vehicle approached from the passenger side in an attempt to slow the vehicle.
Court records state the suspect vehicle swerved back and forth in an effort to maneuver around the police vehicles. While officers were attempting to slow the truck, the driver swerved rapidly to the right, striking a Crown Point police vehicle with the passenger-side rear of the truck.
As the pursuit continued southbound on I-65, officers observed the driver repeatedly reaching toward the center console. Court records state the driver threw unknown items out of the vehicle during the pursuit, but officers were unable to locate the discarded objects.
Officers later attempted a rolling roadblock near mile marker 234, but the driver failed to slow down and again swerved, striking another fully marked police vehicle.
After the suspect vehicle struck three separate law enforcement vehicles, officers determined it was necessary to stop the pursuit using a pursuit intervention technique. Police units positioned themselves in front of, behind, and alongside the truck in an effort to slow it.
According to court records, officers successfully completed the pursuit intervention technique on the passenger side of the truck. The vehicle slid sideways into a guardrail on the west side of the highway and came to a stop on I-65 southbound near mile marker 233.
Both the driver and passenger immediately put their hands in the air. The driver began climbing out of the driver’s side window and was removed from the vehicle and taken into custody without further incident.
Court documents state the driver repeatedly claimed he could not remember his name and was unable to provide identifying information. The passenger later identified the driver as Jonathan Efrain Sanchez and told officers Sanchez said he was not going to stop until he ran out of gas.
A records check revealed Sanchez was operating the vehicle with a suspended license and had an active Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement warrant out of LaPorte County at the time of the incident. Sanchez was later identified through official records, including driver’s license and computer checks.
Lodged in the Lake County Jail.
Charges filed December 29,2025
• Resisting Law Enforcement (Level 6 Felony) – using a vehicle
• Resisting Law Enforcement (Level 6 Felony) – resulting in bodily injury
