Ind. Officer Headed to Work Helps End State Police Pursuit

Jan. 22, 2022

A Porter police officer was on his way to start his shift when he heard over the radio that a chase involving the Indiana State Police and a driver in a stolen Jeep was headed in his direction.

By Bob Kasarda

Source The Times, Munster, Ind.

A Porter, IN, police officer was on his way to work Thursday when he heard that the Indiana State Police were pursuing a stolen Jeep, and he helped troopers nab the suspect.

PORTER, IN—A Porter police officer on his way to work helped bring an end to a police chase that spanned a few local highways, according to an incident report.

Officer Thomas Blythe said he was northbound on Ind. 49 about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, when he overheard radio traffic of a state police pursuit headed his way.

The description of the black Jeep Cherokee matched one used by catalytic converter thieves that had fled days earlier from Valparaiso and Porter County police, he said.

Blythe said he positioned himself near the Indiana Toll Road entrance on Ind. 49, and he and a state trooper put tire deflation devices in the road while waiting for the pursuit as it came off of nearby Interstate 94. The suspect's vehicle struck the devices before continuing the pursuit westbound on the toll road, where it eventually came to a stop with a deflated tire.

State police said they took into custody Keyvon Johnson, 23, of Park Forest, Illinois, and he faces felony counts of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle (prior conviction) and theft, and misdemeanor reckless driving and possession of marijuana, police said.

State troopers noticed the Jeep in Michigan City about 4:15 p.m. Thursday with license plates matching another vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, at which time it took off at a high rate of speed, police said. The vehicle fled west on I-94 and then south on Ind. 49.

"During the subsequent investigation, it was determined that the Jeep had been reported stolen in Plainfield, Illinois, via a Facebook sales scam," state police said. "The driver of the Jeep matched the description of the suspect in that scam. Troopers also learned that this was not the driver's first time fleeing from law enforcement while using a vehicle."

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