Sheriff’s Department Nabs Two Wanted Suspects In Hammond Pursuit
Two people are in custody after the driver of a stolen SUV led police on a pursuit into Hammond. The SUV crashed on a dead end and burst into flames.
Just before 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 19th, a Lake County Sheriff’s Department police officer received an alert from the Real-time Operations Center (ROC) about an SUV that had been identified as a stolen vehicle and was spotted on our license plate reader network. The officer observed the Chevrolet Trax at the intersection of West 15th Avenue and Chase Street in Gary. The officer attempted to make a traffic stop, and the driver stopped then accelerated, fleeing west into Hammond. The SUV eventually struck a concrete barrier at a dead-end on 169th Street west of Harrison Avenue in Hammond.
The male driver and the female passenger were both out of the car detained at the scene when part of the SUV caught on fire. Hammond Firefighters responded to extinguish flames in the engine area of the vehicle.
The driver and passenger were taken to an area hospital for evaluation. They were medically cleared and booked into the Lake County Jail.
The driver, identified as 25-year-old Martell Richardson of Riverdale, Illinois, has an active extradition warrant out of Missouri for 2nd degree assault and domestic battery. The passenger, identified as 27-year-old Elora Strough of Clinton, Missouri, has an active extradition warrant for drugs out of Missouri and is also a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation there. Both are being held at the Lake County Jail pending criminal charges related to the pursuit and stolen vehicle.
“I am proud of how well our team at the Lake County Sheriff’s Real Time Operations Center works to inform and help guide police officers handling emergencies and solving crimes in our neighborhoods,” Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez said. “I launched ROC in 2024. It has proven to be instrumental in locating suspects and helping make the streets of Lake County safer. We developed the ROC to collect information on crime and events affecting public safety as they happen.”
The ROC establishes a link through an extensive camera network to schools, churches and businesses across the county to assist officers immediately and provide them with critical information. “I am so proud of how the ROC has evolved and has been used to assist not only Lake County police officers, but also every public safety agency throughout the county. We believe the ROC is among the most advanced and state-of-the-art facilities of its kind in the Midwest.”
