A Lafayette resident is dead, after apparently stealing a police SUV from LaPorte County sheriff's deputies who were trying to take her into custody Thursday. Indiana State Police believe Melissa L. Collins, 21, was secured in the front passenger seat, when she was able to manipulate the handcuffs, unbuckle the seat belt and take possession of the vehicle.
As officers tried to catch up to it southeast of LaCrosse, they reportedly noticed debris in the roadway and found the vehicle submerged in a ditch with Collins still inside. State Police believe "the vehicle crashed after crossing a set of railroad tracks at an extremely high rate of speed." Collins was later pronounced dead by the LaPorte County Coroner’s Office.
The LaPorte County Sheriff's Office says the incident happened after another chase, where Collins allegedly led police from the Westville area, south on U.S. 421, west on U.S. 30 into Porter County and then back to U.S. 421, before crashing.