Police Pursuit Leads To Drug Charges And Dynamite Found In Home
A suspected drug dealer fled from police, speeding through neighborhoods with a 1-year-old boy in his van this morning, according to Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.
40-year-old Jarrell Ford was the subject of an investigation for the second time this year by the Lake County Sheriff’s Drug Task Force – Regional Enforcement Team.
At approximately noon Thursday, police officers attempted to stop him for a traffic violation near his residence in the 7000 block of Polk Street in Merrillville, but he refused to stop. Ford drove at a high rate of speed through subdivisions with a 1-year-old boy and the child’s mother as passengers. Lake County Sheriff’s Department police officers performed a technique to safely box the fleeing van in on 73rd Avenue east of Taft Street and slow it to a stop. Ford was also suspected of throwing narcotics from the van during the pursuit.
Police executed a search warrant at the home on Polk and confiscated the following:
4 sticks of suspected M-series dynamite
106.8 gross grams of suspected psychedelic mushrooms
1.5 gross grams suspected fentanyl
The Porter County Bomb Squad was called to the scene to safely remove the explosives from the home where he is suspected of living, Martinez said.
The 1-year-old and his mom were both checked by medical staff at the scene and released uninjured.
Ford could face multiple charges including resisting law enforcement, resisting law enforcement with a child inside the car, felony possession of explosives and 2 counts of dealing in cocaine.
Ford already has 8 prior felony charges for dealing in narcotics and is scheduled to appear in court in April. He’s currently being held in the Martinez Motel.
