Two people were arrested after a police pursuit Thursday afternoon in La Porte.
Trooper Jacob Raupp observed a Ford Taurus traveling 80 m.p.h. At around 3:20 p.m. on State Road 2 east of La Porte. Raupp caught up to the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop on it, however, as the officer exited his patrol vehicle and walked towards the Taurus, the driver sped away and drove westbound towards La Porte. The trooper then called out a vehicle pursuit and followed the vehicle as it fled. The suspect attempted to turn onto Clay St. from SR 2 in downtown La Porte but crashed into the corner of the Country Caterers business. The crash resulted in the vehicle being disabled. The driver then exited the vehicle and fled on foot southbound on Clay.
Trooper Raupp gave chase through the alley to Jackson St. where the driver, 18-year-old Bryan Fuentes, of South Bend, tripped and fell and was taken into custody. A passenger in the vehicle also fled from the vehicle. Trooper Raupp returned to his police car and was able to review the dash cam of the pursuit and obtained a description of the passenger that had also fled. The La Porte Police Department was quickly able to locate the passenger, 27 year-old Ricardo Ramirez, from South Bend, as he was attempting to blend in with a group of people attempting to load a car onto a trailer. While doing an inventory of the crashed vehicle, marijuana and crack cocaine were located.
Fuentes is preliminarily charged with possession of cocaine, resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, possession of marijuana, driving while suspended (prior conviction), aggressive driving, and operator never licensed
Ramirez is preliminarily charged with possession of cocaine, resisting law enforcement, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia