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A high-speed pursuit ended in a fiery crash Saturday night when a reserve police officer lost control of his vehicle and hit a house. The driver of the motorcycle being chased by police got away.
Warsaw police initially tried to stop the motorcycle for speeding, but lost sight of the motorcycle near Biomet on U.S. 30 during the initial chase. The vehicle was spotted a short time later west of town.
"I want people to be perfectly clear that the person responsible for this is the fella on the motorcycle," Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said this morning. "He broke the law by failing to stop for the police officer." Rovenstine added that he and his department are sorry for the property loss resulting from the accident.
During the first leg of the pursuit, the motorcyclist took police from Lake Street to Fox Farm Road to CR 150W, where the driver reportedly passed a van in a no-passing zone at 85 mph.
The motorcyclist allegedly continued to U.S. 30E at speeds in excess of 110 mph. The suspect reportedly disregarded a red traffic light at CR200N before traveling to CR 100E and onto CR 250N, where a second Warsaw police officer joined the pursuit. At CR 250N, the motorcycle went westbound before turning in an unknown direction near Biomet.
A multi-police agency search of the area was under way when Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department Reserve Deputy Robert Conley reportedly spotted the motorcycle and resumed the pursuit at U.S. 30 and CR 350W. The vehicles were traveling southbound on CR 350W when a Warsaw police officer behind Conley's squad car saw Conley swerve, then begin to fishtail. WPD Ptl. Doug Light, who was off-duty at the time he joined in the incident, filed a supplemental report in connection with the incident and indicated that it appeared that Conley then overcorrected his vehicle while going down a hill crest before his squad car went off the west side of the road.
When Conley's car left the roadway, dust and dirt was stirred up, causing near-zero visibility. When the dust settled, Light saw that Conley's car had hit a house and both the car and house were engulfed in flames.
Conley, 50, of Warsaw, suffered scrapes and bruises in the accident and was treated at Kosciusko Community Hospital and released. He apparently got out of the squad car on his own before falling in the yard at the residence.
Light and KCSD Reserve Deputy Ken Yost helped get the homeowners out of the residence. No injuries were reported to occupants of the home belonging to Richard Goshert. The home, which was struck at the gas meter, is deemed a total loss. Warsaw Fire Department worked to keep the flames down at the site until utility employees were able to shut off the gas supply to the house.
Rovenstine said there is an ongoing debate in law enforcement of pursue versus not pursue, and "I feel strongly that not pursuing would perpetuate fleeing by suspected criminals," including drunk drivers, burglars and other people who have been apprehended after police chases.
In this case, Rovenstine said, "It didn't work out well, but we do feel terrible about it."
The KCSD has a policy regarding pursuits that relies heavily on the judgment of the officer, Rovenstine said. A review of this incident is being undertaken by the sheriff's department.
Saturday's pursuit was terminated at the time of the accident and the motorcyclist sped away. Witnesses reported seeing the suspect flee in two different directions. Police were able to capture the motorcyclist on videotape on an in-car camera and Rovenstine said the name of a possible suspect surfaced today. Detectives with the Warsaw Police Department will investigate that information.
Anyone with information as to the identity of the motorcycle driver is asked to contact the WPD at 372-9511 or the KCSD at 267-5667.
