SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN (April 15, 2014) – Michigan State Police say a man is in custody after a high-speed chase that started in Portage and ended in Berrien County, spanning more than 90 miles and lasting nearly an hour.
In a news release Tuesday evening, Michigan State Police say Portage Police was dispatched to a Target Store after a call came in for two suspects using fraudulent credit cards around 12:45 p.m.
A Portage Officer made contact with one of the suspects in a vehicle who would later be identified as a 23-year-old Illinois man.
The Illinois man sped away from the scene, dragging the officer a short distance. The officer that was dragged wasn’t injured in the incident.
Portage Police began to pursue the suspect vehicle, later joined by several other police agencies. The suspect initially drove westbound on I-94 from Portage. Deputies in Van Buren County and Michigan State Police troopers joined the pursuit once the chase entered Van Buren County.
The suspect drove several miles along I-94, traveling both eastbound and westbound during the pursuit, and at one point veered his vehicle toward an officer who was attempting to deploy stop sticks from the median along the highway near Paw Paw.
The high-speed chase topped speeds of 100 miles an hour at times before ending near the 1 mile marker along Westbound I-94. Michigan State Police says the suspect driver lost control at high speeds trying to take the New Buffalo exit, and was eventually boxed in by Michigan State Police to end the pursuit. The suspect was taken into custody shortly after the crash.
The suspect driver is being held at the Van Buren County Jail on charges of Felonious Assault and Fleeing and Eluding. Detectives from Portage Public Safety will also be seeking additional charges through the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office regarding the credit card fraud investigation.
