A New York man is in jail after leading the Indiana State Police and several other assisting agencies on a pursuit that spanned four counties on Thursday, according Sgt. Ted Bohner of the Indiana State Police Bremen Post.
At about 8:20 a.m. a trooper attempted to stop a gray Kia passenger car traveling westbound for speeding on the Indiana Toll Road near mile marker 93 in Elkhart County. The trooper, who was driving a marked Indiana State Police Dodge Durango reports that as soon as he turned on his red and blue emergency lights the driver of the Kia increased his speed to flee.
The driver of the Kia continued to flee westbound on the Indiana Toll Road across St. Joseph County, avoiding stop sticks that assisting officers deployed. As the pursuit entered LaPorte County the driver still refused to stop and avoided more stop sticks that were deployed before exiting onto State Road 421 and heading north. The driver of the Kia then continued onto I-94, heading westbound. The driver of the Kia then exited onto State Road 49, heading northbound before turning around and heading southbound. The driver of the Kia approached two busy intersections before pausing to disregard the red light and continuing southbound on State Road 49 approaching the Indiana Toll Road.
The driver of the Kia entered the Toll Road fleeing westbound at speeds of approximately 120 miles per hour. Troopers were able to deploy stop sticks near the 26 mile marker on the Toll Road that deflated both passenger side tires on the Kia.
The driver of the Kia continued westbound through the Portage Barrier Toll Plaza before driving into the ditch on the north side of the roadway, coming to a stop The driver, identified as 28-year-old Daniyal Zaidi, Jamaica, NY followed verbal commands given during a felony stop and was safely taken into custody.
Zaidi was transported to the Elkhart County Jail for resisting law enforcement and reckless driving.