Car chase ends in arrest

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - A car chase through Tippecanoe and Montgomery Counties ends with one man in custody. Around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department responded to a call from security at the Wal-Mart on 350 South in Tippecanoe County. Lieutenant Scott Hodson says 48-year-old Michael Crank of Lafayette allegedly stole something from the store. Wal-Mart security confronted Crank and after a scuffle, he fled the scene. Crank took off going south on Concord Road in a Chrysler Sebring convertible.

Lieutenant Hodson was on patrol nearby. He pursued Crank through through Tippecanoe County. Hodson says Crank was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed through the sharp twists and turns of country roads. Crank went through Stockwell and south down County Road 700 East into Darlington. He then west headed towards U.S. 231. Hodson says the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department had units waiting with stop sticks at U.S. 231 near North Montgomery High School. Crank crossed U.S. 231, hit the stop sticks, and crashed into a fence around the Tipmont REMC substation. After a short foot-pursuit, Hodson apprehended the suspect in a field. Crank has been charged with theft, battery resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, and criminal recklessness.  He is being held in the Tippecanoe County Jail with no bond.