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Warsaw police officers followed a stolen car to Wabash County early Sunday morning.
At 5:52 a.m. Sunday, an employee of Phillips 66 gas station on Detroit Street, Warsaw, reported a Bronco drove off without paying for gasoline.
A ciivilian spotted the vehicle heading south on Ind. 15 at a high rate of speed and used his cellular phone to keep police informed where the vehicle was headed.
The police followed the vehicle on Ind. 15 to CR 550S, when the civilian reported a rear tire of the fleeing vehicle was nearly flat.
The driver pulled over to the shoulder. After stopping for a moment, the driver took off again, running on the flat tire.
The police continued the chase while the vehicle reached speeds up to 85 miles per hour. The vehicle reportedly disregarded stop signs, flashing red lights and passing zones.
As the chase headed toward Wabash County, Warsaw police closed in to one-fourth of a mile of the vehicle.
At the intersection of Ind. 114 and 15, Warsaw Officer Randal Hart began to gain on the suspect and said he saw tire fragments in the road, as if the vehicle lost a tire.
Hart reported that the vehicle swerved right, off the road into a field just south of Ind. 114 and was on fire. Hart followed the Bronco and saw the driver flee on foot, north into a wooded area.
The Warsaw K-9 unit followed the trail of the driver until it was lost near Wabash County Road 520W. The suspect was described as a white male around 6 feet tall wearing a light-colored baseball cap, brown coat and light-colored shoes.
The Michigan state police said the vehicle was reported stolen by its owner, Terry B. Ferrell of Marcellus, Mich. The Bronco was destroyed by the fire.
