Ind. Trooper Injured Stopping Intoxicated Wrong-Way Driver During High-Speed Chase
What to know
• An Indiana State Police trooper suffered injuries that weren't life-threatening after using his vehicle to stop a driver accused of DUI who led officers on a high-speed, wrong-way pursuit along Interstate 80 near the Illinois border.
• Police say the driver shut off his lights, fled at over 100 mph and repeatedly entered oncoming lanes of traffic before his vehicle was disabled by a trooper.
• The driver was arrested after resisting officers, and he faces multiple charges, including three counts of resisting law enforcement and several operating-while-intoxicated offenses.
An Indiana State Police trooper was injured over the weekend while using his vehicle to stop a motorist accused of driving while intoxicated and leading officers on a high-speed chase that included driving the wrong direction along the local stretch of Interstate 80.
A trooper reported seeing the Mini Cooper travelling just more than 100 mph eastbound on I-80 near the Illinois state line around 11 p.m. Saturday.
As the trooper attempted to catch up, the driver, later identified as Nelson Dones, 45, of Lisle, shut off his vehicle lights and exited on to Indianapolis Boulevard, police said.
Police spotted the vehicle a short time later re-entering I-80 westbound and pursued as the driver made a U-turn and headed eastbound in the westbound lanes of the busy highway weaving through oncoming traffic, according to ISP.
“The driver’s actions created an immediate danger to motorists,” state police said.
Dones then headed southbound on Calumet Avenue in the northbound lanes and attempted to merge back on to I-80 in the wrong lanes, police said. When the Mini Cooper stalled, a trooper used his vehicle to disable it.
The officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at an area hospital, ISP said.
Other officers approached the vehicle with guns drawn and removed Dones while he continued to resist, police said.
Dones was taken to the Lake County Jail and faces three charges of resisting law enforcement, including counts of causing bodily injury and creating substantial risk of injury; several counts of operating while intoxicated; criminal recklessness; and reckless driving, police said.
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