City of Gary officials are concerned over a chase initiated by the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday afternoon in which four people in a car fleeing police ended up hitting and overturning a school bus.
A Lake County police officer saw a car fail to signal at West 15th Avenue and Hanley Street in Gary shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Pam Jones said in a release. When the officer saw the driver fail to signal again at West 19th Avenue, he attempted to pull the driver over, Jones said.
The car then fled north on Clark Road to West 6th Avenue, where the car wound through the alleys before returning to West 6th Avenue, Jones said. The driver failed to stop at Burr Street and ended up striking a southbound-traveling school bus, which rolled onto its side when it was hit, she said.
The bus driver and an assistant were in the bus, but no children were, Jones said.
A Lake County officer removed the bus’s windshield and got the two out, and good Samaritans helped them to safety. Lake County Sheriff’s Department officers, meanwhile, recovered a loaded handgun from the car and took its four occupants into custody before having them taken to an area hospital for treatment, Jones said.
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The driver, an 18-year-old man from Gary remained in the hospital and has not yet been charged, Jones said Wednesday.
He is, however, wanted on two warrants for robbery with bodily injury and domestic violence; the accident remains under investigation, she said.
Gary Councilman Cozey Weatherspoon, D-2nd, said at Tuesday night’s Gary Common Council meeting that he witnessed the chase and was concerned about high-speed chases through residential areas within the city. He said he saw Lake County Sheriff’s Police chase the vehicle down Clark Street from Chase to Burr streets through a neighborhood until the fleeing vehicle struck the bus.
“It was ugly. It brought to mind a question about our policy and the county’s policy regarding high-speed pursuits throughout neighborhoods,” Weatherspoon said. “We were very fortunate there were no children on that bus. For that vehicle to hit that bus and turn it over, it was going at a very high rate of speed.”
Weatherspoon said he understands that individuals who break the law must be apprehended, but he is concerned about the danger in which innocent civilians may be placed.
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Gary Police Chief Brian Evans said the policy within the Gary Police Department is very clear — high-speed pursuits, or pursuits of any kind, are undertaken by officers with due regard, as well as with supervision monitoring the call by radio and canceling the pursuit if we feel it is in any way dangerous.
Evans said he personally recently was involved in a pursuit he was forced to terminate as it moved to a busy area. Evans said he did not know what the sheriff’s department policy is regarding chases but that he’ll contact the Sheriff’s department regarding its policy.
Carrie Napoleon and Michelle L. Quinn are freelance reporters for the Post-Tribune.
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