WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Two people were arrested and a third is on the run after a police chase through West Lafayette on Tuesday.
The incident began at around 2:30 p.m. when police received a report of a reckless driver in a silver Chevrolet Malibu who was driving into West Lafayette on Sagamore Parkway. The driver was reportedly driving "very erratically and cutting off other vehicles," police said.
Witnesses saw the driver pull into the McDonalds parking lot on Sagamore Parkway and as the driver pulled out of the parking lot, police said he nearly caused several crashes.
Police said they couldn't safely follow the driver because he sped away, "darting dangerously" through heavy traffic.
Just moments later, the driver ran a red light and was in a crash with another car at the intersection of Northwestern Avenue and Lindberg Road.
The driver and two passengers jumped out of the car and tried to run away. But West Lafayette police officers and two off-duty state troopers ran after them and caught the two passengers, identified as 29-year-old Gramm Smith, of Battleground, and 24-year-old Elisha Barry, of Lafayette. They were arrested for resisting law enforcement.
The driver was able to get away, jumping into the driver's seat of a red Ford Focus that was left running while its owner was looking at the crash scene. The owner unsuccessfully tried to stop the driver from taking the car.
Police said the driver pulled the stolen car out of its parking spot, drove over a curb and through the grass to escape. They also allege the driver nearly hit three officers and the car's owner as he got away.
As officers chased the suspect, Smith and Barry told police the suspect might be armed. Police chased him through West Lafayette until officers eventually had to call it off because it had become too dangerous for the public, police said.
Investigators at the crash scene said they found suspected methamphetamine in the Malibu and they found more suspected methamphetamine and needles in the area where the suspects fled after the crash.
The driver later abandoned the stolen Ford Focus in an alley off North 13th Street behind St. Mary Cathedral Elementary School and then stole a blue Buick Regal from behind the school.
Police said Wednesday the suspect and the stolen Buick have not been found. Smith and Barry were taken to the Tippecanoe County Jail.
The West Lafayette Police Department is asking anyone with information about this incident to call them at 765-775-5200 or call the WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME for a possible reward.
