Indy Man Arrested After Police Chase In Crown Point
On Sunday, April 10, 2022, police officers with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Special Operations Unit were conducting an enforcement regarding illegal purchases of firearms, according to Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.
At approximately 1:15 p.m., an officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a driver who turned without activating a turn signal near Greenwood Avenue and Main Street. The driver refused to stop and accelerated, Martinez stated. Near Marimar Ct. and Pettibone St., the driver of the fleeing vehicle spun out and eventually came to a stop in the yard of a home in the 200 block of E. Elizabeth Pl. When the officer advised the occupants of the car to exit the vehicle, the driver sped away from the scene, heading north.
Several members of the Lake County High Crimes Unit joined in the pursuit. The driver disregarded a traffic device at Main Street and E. Joliet, then drove through two fences of the Crown Point Dog Park. The fleeing vehicle was blocked in by a third fence and by Crown Point Police Department officers who were assisting.
Lake County Sheriff’s Department police officers attempted to apprehend the male driver and female passenger, but the male actively resisted, forcing a Lake County Detective to deploy his K-9 partner to assist in subduing the suspect.
Lake County officers recovered a handgun near the location where the pursuit ended. Officers also recovered a wallet containing $1000 in U.S. currency, three 9 mm live ammunition boxes, two baggies containing a green, leafy substance suspected to be marijuana, two cigars filled with a leafy, plant-like substance and a digital scale.
A 21-year-old male from Indianapolis was taken to a local hospital, where he was medically cleared and he was booked into the Lake County Jail. Multiple charges against him were presented to the Lake County Prosecutor’s office.
He faces charges including:
Resisting in a vehicle – Level 6 felony
Criminal recklessness – Level B misdemeanor
Pistol no permit – Level A misdemeanor
Dealing marijuana – Level A misdemeanor
The 21-year-old female, also from Indianapolis, was released at the scene.
