Chesterton police arrested two Illinois suspects on Monday after a high-speed pursuit, with one of the suspects being found in a trash can, according to police.
According to the CPD, at 10:25 a.m. an officer was advised that the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Police was pursuing a Nissan with Arizona plates westbound on U.S. 30. He learned that the suspect vehicle was believed to have been involved in a fraud case currently under investigation by the CPD.
The officer took a position on Ind. 49, just south of Gateway Blvd., in order to intercept the suspect vehicle should its driver try to bolt to the north. The suspect passed the officer’s location and a pursuit began, according to the officer.
The officer followed the Nissan as it turned left at Gateway Blvd. to enter the Toll Road plaza, through a toll booth—where the suspect vehicle “nearly caused a crash”—and then onto the interstate. The pursuit continued on I-80/90 westbound at speeds of 107 miles per hour going in and out of traffic, according to the officer. The suspect vehicle was approaching the Toll Road plaza in Portage when the officer was advised that the Indiana State Police was deploying stop sticks just beyond the only toll booth still open. The Nissan struck the sticks after exiting the booth.
The suspect vehicle began to slow, until its driver pulled into the median and, accompanied by his passenger, exited the Nissan and made for the south on foot, the CPD said. The officer followed but slipped and fell, spitting his lip, chipping his tooth, but lost little time in getting to his feet and headed in the direction where he’d last seen the two. This led him into a Portage neighborhood in the area of Dombey Road and Plaza Ave., where a motorist flagged him down to say that he’d just seen a male subject jump into a trash can next to a house in the 5200 block of Plaza Ave.
“At that time, I announced myself as the police and I (instructed the suspect) to step out of the trash can,” the officer stated. “I then informed dispatch that I had one at gunpoint with my service weapon and needed additional units to assist.”
The officer was soon joined by a Porter County Sheriff’s Police Officer, who extracted the suspect.
The driver, a 25-year-old Chicago, Ill., resident, and his passenger, a 33-year-old Bolingbrook, Ill., resident, were both charged with resisting law enforcement; possession of marijuana; and possession of paraphernalia. The driver was also charged with reckless driving.
The two remain under investigation by the CPD.